The Digimon Dragons Reunite
by DigimonDragongirl
Summary: Sequel to The Digimon Dragons. It's now season 2 and three girls with three dragon Digimon are called back to the Digiworld for an unexpected reason.


The Digimon Dragons Reunite

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

***************

Author's note: Well, here we are again. Anyone notice I can never leave a story alone? I either have to make a sequel, or start a series with it. I can't help myself! Ah well. I suppose you don't mind, or you wouldn't be reading, huh? As always, the concept of Digimon belongs to the official companies, not me. You can contact the creators of Tania, Teng, Keith, Yazumon and Yazumon's armor digi-volutions at trascia@hotmail.com. Lina, Diratimon and Diratimon's armor digi-volutions belong to CoolestMew@aol.com. All other invented characters and the fanfic are mine. Please don't use any non-original characters without written permission from their owners. Thanks.

***************

"No . . . _no_! I don't wanna go! I don't wanna! You can't make me!"

Lexx bolted upright in her bed, woken by the loud cries. All was darkness. The glowing red numbers on the alarm clock, reading 3:17, shed the only light as she tried blearily to figure out what was going on.

A pitiful whimper drew her attention to the foot of the bed. She could make out the dark form of Cunomon shuddering in his sleep, rolling over and curling into a ball. His spines dug into her leg through the blanket as he whimpered again and muttered something she didn't hear.

"Cunomon?" the girl whispered softly, reaching down and giving him a gentle nudge. The little blue dragon flinched and tried to burrow under the covers. "Cunomon," she repeated, more urgently, her worry growing. "Cuno!"

He shot upright. In the red light she could see his pupils had shrunken to tiny black dots. "No!" he cried.

"Cuno, snap out of it!"

Immediately his pupils dilated back to normal size. "L-Lexx?" She nodded. "Lexx!" he sobbed, throwing himself into her arms. She clutched him tight, feeling the deep shivers that raked his body.

"Shhhh," she soothed. "Shhh. It was only a dream, Cunomon. Only a dream."

"Lexx!" he wailed, huddling closer. "It was s-so s-s-scary!"

"What happened?"

The Digimon curled up in her lap, and she drew the blankets around them both in a comfy cocoon of warmth. "Was _bad_," he told her lowly. "Someone wanted to take me away. I don't want to go away, Lexx! I wanna stay with you!"

"Shhhh. You'll wake up Mom and Dad. Or Toru. It was just a dream. It wasn't real."

"It _felt_ real."

"Sometimes they do," she assured him. "But you don't ever have to go away Cuno, if you don't want to. You can stay with me as long as you want."

The dragon Digimon slowly relaxed. He yawned sleepily, feeling safe once again in the arms of his human partner. "Thanks, Lexx," he mumbled. "I . . . love ya. . . ." He trailed off into soft snores.

The dark-haired girl bit her lip to keep from giggling. "Love ya too, buddy," she whispered. She looked at the sleeping Digimon in her lap, then at the nest of blankets around them both, then at the alarm clock. 3:19. The wooden headboard dug into her back.

How in the world was she going to fall back asleep in this position?

* * *

As the band started packing up their instruments a voice called out, "So, when's the next concert?"

A blond boy in a forest green school uniform straightened from putting his guitar in its case. Turning to the door, he wasn't surprised to see a girl with long blonde hair leaning against the doorjamb. It wasn't as if this was the first time she'd shown up to listen to their practice sessions. "Two weeks from tomorrow, Lina," he replied.

"That's cool. I'll be there. Hey listen, Matt, I'm . . . er. . . ." She glanced at the other band members, but they weren't paying attention to the conversation. "I'm going for a walk on Saturday. Wanna come?" She blinked innocently, a little smile on her face.

Matt knew what she meant. "Love to, but I've got a math test on Monday and I have no clue how to do half the stuff. I'm going to have to crack the books this weekend." He made a disgusted face.

Lina laughed. " 'Kay. Some other time." She opened her mouth to say more, but before she could her watch started to beep. The blonde sighed. "Darn. I'm supposed to be home right now. Catch ya later!" Without waiting for a reply she disappeared from the doorway.

"Yeah, bye," he told the door.

"Yo Matt, if yer done talkin' to your girlfriend you can help us pack up the amps!" one of the other band members cracked, running a hand through his spiky brown hair.

"Yo yourself. Shut it," he shot back, smirking and grabbing one end of the machinery.

* * *

Bump bump bump bump bump bump bump. Silence, other than the steady, rhythmic sound of the ball hitting the pavement. And her own rapid breathing. With a quick jerk of her hand she wiped the sweat from her forehead and shot off down the court. The ball bounced one step ahead of her, hard and fast, and at the right moment she planted her feet and heaved the ball upward.

The orange rubber sphere sailed up, up, hit the backboard, teetered on the rim for a moment, then sunk into the net with a satisfying swishing noise. She punched a fist into the air in triumph.

"She shoots; she scores!" someone shouted from the sidelines. "Tania Rascia storms the court! The crowd goes wild! Her manager wants her to sign a five-year contract!" Two voices broke into wild cheering.

The brown-haired girl caught the basketball in one hand as it bounced, rolling her eyes. "You guys are so hilarious," she said with heavy sarcasm, walking over to them.

The two boys grinned. "Come on, Tania. You gotta take as good as you give, you know."

"Who says?" she demanded, passing the ball with a swift thrust.

"Keith does!" returned one of them, catching the basketball at chest level. "And I second." He started to dribble in place, grinning like a shark.

"Okay, Teng, time to put your money where your mouth is. 1-on-1, all three of us, right here. First one to get five points gets to mercilessly tease the other two without return jabs for a week."

"You're on!" Teng laughed, starting to dribble down the court toward the closest basket. Tania and Keith ran after him.

* * *

Lina yawned and stretched, feeling the hot Digiworld sun beating down on her from above and the soft grass on her back. It felt good, really. Back home it was hard to just find a grassy hill to lie on and stare at the clouds for a while. There was school, friends, family, making Matt's concerts, and a thousand other mundane things. Today was Saturday. She had all her homework done. For once she was just going to sit here and—

"Watcha doin' Lina?" A blue, splotched head with round green eyes came into her line of sight and waved a wing in her face. "No time to just lie around and look at the sky! What if the Digimon Emperor's around? What if he sends his Digimon slaves? We should be on the lookout!"

Sigh. So much for the perfect day of relaxation. "Diratimon, I don't want to fight evil today. I don't want to liberate Digimon slaves. I just want to take it easy." But she sat up anyway, brushing the shreds of grass from the back of her blue-green shirt.

The winged dragon beside her cocked his head. "Hard day in the real world?" he guessed. At her nod he laid a sympathetic wing on her arm. "You want to talk about it?"

"Not much to talk about, really. Just lots of little things adding up onto one another. It's so much easier here in Digiworld. The rules are simple. Watch out for Digimon slaves; save the ones you can. Over there I just . . . I dunno, it's always so much more difficult, you know what I mean? Diratimon?" Lina blinked and looked at her Digimon when she got no answer.

The little winged Rookie was staring off into space, a blank expression on his reptilian face. "Dirati?" She waved a hand in front of his eyes. No response. She gave him a gentle shove.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Lina. I wasn't listening." 

"What happened? You just blanked out there for a second."

Diratimon's wings fluttered a little with unease. He looked around in confusion, as if lost or searching for something. "Just tired, I guess," was his reply after a moment of silence. "I haven't been sleeping well." To prove his point he yawned hugely.

The blond girl frowned as she stared at her blue-green D3 thoughtfully. This wasn't like Diratimon at all. Now that she thought about it, his scales looked duller than they normally did. And he had lost that cocky look in his eyes. Now he just looked faded, drained. How could she have not noticed this before?

"I think you're sick, Diratimon," she said, concerned.

The dragon Rookie snorted and drew himself up a little taller. "I'm not sick. I don't get sick. I just need a little sleep, that's all. Nothing to get your tail in a knot over if you'll, uh, pardon the expression. Heh heh."

"Dirati—"

"I said I'm fine!"

"But—"

RRRRROOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR!

Diratimon's head snapped up, looking more alert. "Sounds like a Tyrannomon," he announced tersely.

"What it sounds like is trouble," Lina returned. "But we'd better go and check it out. Come on." Together the two of them set off for the thick forest on the right, and the girl couldn't help but wish that she was still sitting on the hill, staring harmlessly up at the clouds, rather than running blind into a problem with her possibly sick Digimon. What a mess!

The two skidded to a halt as they broke through the forest flora to a wide bare area, cutting a path through the woods. The ground was dotted with blackened, smoking patches. Swatches of shrubbery and small trees had been uprooted and thrown aside. Battle signs.

"That way!" Diratimon pointed with a wing, hovering several feet above the ground. Lina looked down the ragged path to where it turned sharply, saw a long red tail with green spines poking out from behind a big thick tree. More trees and other forest plants blocked the view of the fight, but they did nothing to dampen the noise.

"Blaze Blast!" a deep voice shouted, and then a dull explosion sound and a wave of heat rolled through the forest.

"You'll have to do better than that!" a much smaller voice taunted. More growling and movements. The red tail thrashed. "Ha! The Emperor's lackeys are getting slower every day! Come and get me, dino-breath! Uh oh—" A loud crash cut off the voice.

Lina and Diratimon looked at each other.

"Diratimon, ever hear the saying, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'?"

The Rookie blinked. "No, but I agree with it. Let's help!"

She nodded and pulled out her D3. "Digi-armor Energize!" she cried out.

A brilliance filled the air. The blue dragon Digimon shone with light. "Diratimon armor digi-volve to. . . !"

The light faded. A larger Digimon had taken little Diratimon's place. He hovered in the air with powerful beats of his wide wings. Purple spines trailed down his back, matching the purple tiger stripes on his darker blue body. A mask of purple and blue-green covered his face, with the Crest of Kindness between his green eyes.

"CerulRyumon: The Protector of Kindness!"

The Armor Digimon swooped down the path, Lina running after. As she rounded the bend the scene was revealed to her. A huge, angry Tyrannomon—a Dark Ring was clamped around his neck, and his eyes gleamed red—had pinned a small Digimon beneath a fallen log. As the slave reared back to breathe fire on the trapped individual, CerulRyumon dropped out of the sky. With a cry of "Cerulean Lightning!" the winged Digimon's body took on a bright blue glow, charged with electricity. He rammed into the Tyrannomon, causing the dinosaur to bellow in pain and forcing it back a step.

As CerulRyumon drove the Tyrannomon backward, Lina ran to the trapped creature under the log. She grabbed one end and shoved. The wood creaked, but didn't move much.

"Ouch! Hey, wanna watch what you're doin'?" a voice complained. Lina's blue-green eyes opened wide. She knew that voice! But from where?

"Sorry," she replied without thinking, coming around the side of the log to look at the pinned Digimon. He stood on two feet, but one was trapped under the log, along with his tail. Black marks surrounded annoyed red eyes. An orange baseball cap sat between pointed ears. Covered in shaggy blue fur, he looked like a cross between a dragon and a wolf. Lina stared—

Flash!

A crackling campfire. Across from the flames Lina watched a black-haired girl in a purple vest and a brunette with an orange baseball cap as they all feasted on a dinner of berries. They began to talk—

Flash!

Traveling deep underground, the only light coming from the brightly burning torch in the brunette's hand. Suddenly a large white figure appeared in front of them. Somebody screamed—

Flash!

Standing with the two girls and the three Digimon Dragons as the evil black Yacutimon soared in the sky. The three Crests began to glow, and the light reached out to envelop the trio of Rookies—

Flash!

The still, silent form of the true Yacutimon stretched out on the barren ground. Tears streaming down her face, she screamed at him, pleaded. Just open your eyes—

Flash!

Lina blinked and shook her head, trying to chase away the memories from four years ago. She felt dizzy, disconnected. "A-are you related to Yazumon?" she managed. She sounded out of breath, like she had been running a marathon.

"I _am_ Yazumon!" snapped the Digimon, pushing against the log. Finally he growled in annoyance and shouted, "Plasma Blaster!" Lina shielded her face with her hands as the log disintegrated. "Ahh, much better," sighed the Digimon Dragon. "Now how did you. . . ." He stared at her with narrowed eyes for a moment, then blinked and cocked his head. "I know you. You were . . . Diratimon's partner!"

A small comet of light shot into Lina's pocket. The armor, returning home. "Still is," a smug voice announced from behind them.

"Well if it isn't Diratimon," Yazumon snickered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well if it isn't Yazumon," the winged Rookie returned. They both laughed and thumped each other on the back.

"Man, I haven't see you in ages!" said the furry dragon, a grin on his snout. "Was that you helping me out with the Tyrannomon? Not that I couldn't have handled him myself, of course."

Lina cleared her throat.

"Sure was! I'll have to explain to you about armor digi-volving sometime. It's amazing! Say, why in the Digiworld are you walking around on your hind legs?"

Lina cleared her throat again, louder.

"It's part of the new look! Tania gave me her hat when she left. You like?"

"Yeah! Looks good on you. Say, while we're having this Digimon Dragon reunion, where's the whiner?"

Lina tried coughing discretely.

"I haven't seen Cunomon since we kicked that fake Yacutimon to the curb. Have you seen anyone? Have you seen Tania?"

" 'Fraid not. I—"

"Excuse me!" Lina finally exploded, tired of waiting around. Both dragons turned to look at her. "Uh . . .Yazumon?"

He gave a mock bow. "At your service . . . uh, I can't remember your name. Sorry."

"She's Lina," Dirati put in. "Lina, you remember, don't you? How we all got captured because we were part of the prophecy, and you came and rescued us? Then we digi-volved into—"

"Of course I remember! It's just . . . been a while. Uh, what happened to the Tyrannomon, Dirati?"

"Out like a light," the Digimon reported, pointing. There was the big red dino, stretched out on the forest floor. Even as the three of them watched, its eyelids twitched. Bright blue eyes opened. Free of its Dark Ring, it heaved itself to its feet and stared at them. Then it turned and stomped off.

"You're welcome," muttered Lina to the Digimon's retreating form.

"Don't mind the Tyrannomon; they're not big talkers." Yazumon nudged her with an elbow, winking one red eye.

Lina smiled. "You certainly seem to handle this two-legged thing without problem," she commented.

The Digimon chuckled. "I've had four years of practice. You should have seen me when I was first starting out." With a flourish he leaned against a tree, crossing one leg over the other.

Still grinning, Lina found another, smaller log not too far away and dragged it over to sit down. Diratimon jumped up and perched next to her as she asked, "So, how have you been, Yaz? It sure has been a while. What happened to you after we split up again?"

"After Cuno and Dirati and I separated back into three Digimon and sent us all back on our journeys, Tania and I were back with Keith and Teng. Later, Leomon came to us—he was the one who gave Tania the Crest of Justice—and said she had to return to the real world." He shuffled his feet, eyes cast downward. "I wanted to go with her . . . I'd follow Tania anywhere, Lina. But Leomon wouldn't let me." He sighed. "Leomon always knows best, I guess. He's a wise and good leader. Still, I wish. . . ." He shook his head. "Never mind. But hey! If you're here that must mean the gateway between the two worlds is open again, right? I could see Tania again!" He leaped upright, eyes wide.

Lina nodded. "I don't see why not. Only, I haven't seen Tania or Lexxy since we split up four years ago. I don't know their last names, or where they live." Sheepishly, she scratched her neck. "I haven't even really thought about them since then."

"Well it's not like we didn't have a lot on our minds," put in Diratimon defensively. "What with saving the digital world and the real world and all. I never saw _you_ make any obvious efforts to find us, Yaz."

The dragon held up his paws, palms out. "Hey, hey! I didn't say anything!" Lina and Diratimon laughed, realizing he was right. "But how do you get to the real world, Lina? Where's the gateway?"

"Televisions!" Dirati spoke up. "Televisions can become gateways to the real world, if you have a digi-vice. Actually, if you have a D3. Digi-vices don't work anymore."

"What's a D3?"

Lina stood up from the log. "Come on, you two. The TV's not too far. We can head over to show Yazumon, and I'll explain about what's been happening as we go."

The two Digimon Dragons shared a look and nodded, then hurried after Lina. Together the trio left the forest.

* * *

"Alexandria, dear! Can you get Toru please? I'm in the middle of folding laundry!"

Lexx could barely hear her mother over the continuous wails reverberating through the apartment. For a moment she considered pretending she hadn't, but then with a sign she put down her textbook and strode down the hall. She entered her little brother's room, where the racket was much worse. The little boy was screaming at the top of his lungs, his face all red and scrunched up, flailing his little arms around.

"Toru," she sighed, not even hearing her own words as she hoisted the baby out of his crib. He grabbed a fistful of her black hair and gave it a yank, still howling. Desperate to stop the noise, Lexx bounced him lightly up and down in one arm, reaching into the crib and withdrawing a bright blue rattle. She shook it for him, watching his round black eyes as he followed the movements back and forth. Fascinated, he completely forgot his crying and reached for the rattle with one pudgy little hand, the other still holding firmly onto her hair.

The fifteen-year-old grinned with relief. She loved her baby brother dearly, but sometimes he was so annoying! Together the two of them trooped out of the bedroom and down to the living room, where their mother was indeed setting piles of folded laundry on the couch. Cunomon, stretched out next to the laundry basket, looked up as they came in.

"Thank goodness he stopped! Human babies sure do make a lot of noise. Baby Digimon don't make half as much. . . ." He trailed off, then looked sheepish. "Well, I guess they do. Heh heh."

Lexx's mother laughed. "That's just Toru's way of telling us he doesn't want to sleep anymore, Cuno. Until he learns how to talk he has to use other ways of communication."

"It's pretty effective too," Lexx commented, plopping Toru down in his playpen (she had to pry his hand off her hair first) before coming over to help her mother. "Maybe I should start screaming when I want something." Her face was very straight and serious.

Cunomon sat up in alarm. "Please don't, Lexx!" But when both females burst out laughing—and Toru joined in for no apparent reason—the Digimon realized he'd been had. "Oh, very funny."

Chuckling, the black-haired girl picked up her own pile of laundry and headed for her room. Cunomon jumped up and trotted after her. He stuck his nose in the door, pushing it open. There was the usual combination of drawing tools and schoolbooks scattered over the floor and desk. There was the computer, its screensaver (little green and purple flying dragons) running. There was the clean clothes, neat and folded on the bed. And there was Lexx, running a brush through her short black hair. With nimble fingers she separated one lock into three strands, twisting it into a short braid which hung at her left temple. She slipped a small purple bead on the end and tied a rubber band to hold it all in place.

Cunomon padded into the room, hopping up on the bed beside the clothes. "Where ya going, Lexx?"

Her green eyes slid sideways, glancing at his reflection in the mirror instead of turning to look at the little Digimon himself. "Who says I'm going anywhere?" she asked innocently.

He grinned triumphantly. "You always put the braid in your hair before you go somewhere."

For a moment, Lexx froze. Then she sighed and shook her head. "Can't put anything by you, huh?"

"Nope!" announced Cunomon happily.

"Well, you can't come." The girl turned from the mirror and was out the door in an instant.

"What!?" Cunomon cried to the empty room. He jumped down and took off after her. Tripping down the stairs and landing in a heap, he found her putting on her sneakers by the door. "Wait, why not?" he demanded as he stood up and shook himself.

"Because they don't allow pets. Now be a good Digimon and go check on Toru or something. I'll be back before dinner." She vanished out the front door.

Cunomon stared at the silent doorway, eyes wide. Finally he snorted, gave himself another shake, and headed for the kitchen. That's where Mom usually was.

Sure enough, the human woman with pale blue eyes and mouse brown hair was rinsing dishes and loading the dishwasher. Toru sat in his highchair, banging a wooden spoon on the tray with obvious enjoyment. Cunomon jumped up onto his special stool. "You sure do a lot of work, Mom," he said.

She smiled at him over her shoulder. "It's my job, Cuno."

"Oh." He cocked his head. "Do you get paid?"

The woman laughed softly. "Seeing my family happy and healthy is my payment. Would you get the soap, please, honey?"

The little Digimon blushed at being called honey, but hopped down and grabbed the dishwashing detergent from the bottom cupboard. As Diane Ishiodori loaded the last glass into the machine, Cunomon carefully carried the box of dry soap over to her in his mouth. "Thank you, dear," she smiled, taking it from him.

As she poured the soap, Cuno asked, "Mom? Where did Lexx go?"

"Just out with some friends. They invited her."

The dragon's pointed ears flattened, and his tail drooped. "She didn't take me." His voice was heavy with disappointment. Suddenly his dream from last night came back to him. Was someone trying to separate him from Lexx? No, that was silly. This wasn't the first time she had gone out alone, after all. Still. . . .

Lexx's mother wrapped an arm around the Digimon carefully and gave him a hug before standing and switching on the washing machine. "Alexandria will be home in a few hours, and then she'll be all yours again, Cuno dear. She's just having some fun with her friends." Toru, laughing and gurgling to himself, threw his spoon across the room, and Diane bent to retrieve it as she added, "You can go watch TV if you want. Hiroshi's news hour is over by now."

Cunomon smiled sweetly. "Thanks, Mom. I think I'll take a nap instead." He left the kitchen and returned upstairs. The window at the end of the hall, by Mr. Ishiodori and Mom's room, had a fire escape. And it was usually slightly open.

"Cunomon, you are a genius," the Digimon snickered to himself, shoving his snout in the crack at the bottom of the window. With a flick of his head he nudged it opened and slithered out. A cool wind blew past as the little creature stood on the metal gangplank attached to the side of the building. Cunomon pricked up his ears and inhaled the sights, smells and sounds of the afternoon city. Freedom! Of course, what he was doing wasn't exactly right . . . and he'd probably get in trouble later. But he had to make sure Lexx was okay!

The blue Rookie leapt for the metal rungs leading down to the next platform. Better hurry, or he'd never find her!

* * *

Tania glanced at her wristwatch with a sigh. "Darn," she growled. "Hey Keith, Teng. I gotta go. I promised my mom I'd call her by three, if I'm not home." She stood from the table and grabbed her Cola bottle. "See ya, guys."

Keith and Teng waved and called goodbye as Tania left the pizza shop where the three of them had stopped for a late lunch after their basketball game. Strolling down the sidewalk with her basketball under one arm and her soda in the other hand, the brunette mentally counted the change in her pocket. Not enough for a taxi, but enough to take the bus if she called home collect. Oh joy. Public transportation. Maybe Mom was planning on doing some shopping downtown today and could pick her up on the way. . . .

The closest payphone was in the parking lot of a convenience store on the other side of the block. Tania knew this area well. The court, various food stops, and the arcade down the street were all within walking distance of each other. Not to mention a few other places teens were known to loiter around. She and Keith and Teng came here to hang out together all the time.

So when the alley between two tall apartment buildings came up on her right, Tania turned down it, knowing the other side opened up not far from the payphone. The afternoon sunlight was replaced with cool, dark shadows as she left the sidewalk behind and slunk between the buildings. It was a fairly wide alleyway. Tania dodged between a parked car and two garbage cans, muttering about the smell under her breath. As she ducked under a vertical ladder the sun peeked out from the roofs above her and lit up the alley. It was actually quiet bright, and the brown-haired girl had to shield her face with her hand, dropping her basketball in the process.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Tania as the light became even brighter, and something small shot down from the sky. That wasn't the sun at all! The tiny comet zoomed down into the alley and landed in a pile of trash bags, where it shone like a flashlight. What the heck was that, a falling star? Or. . . .

Disbelief on her face and in her thoughts, Tania stumbled over to the heap of trash. It called to her like a beacon, illuminating the once-again dark passageway. Shoving aside a black trash bag, she finally got a closer look at the object. It was small. It was gray. And although it was more rectangular than she was used to, and there were no buttons next to the tiny glowing screen set in it, Tania had _no doubt_ what it was.

"I don't believe it," gasped the girl. "I-it's a digi-vice!" Her hand automatically went to her belt, but she had left hers at home.

"It is? Is it yours?"

She gasped and jerked her head up, to the voice calling down to her curiously. A sky blue, four-footed creature gazed down at her with bright yellow eyes from the lowest platform of the fire escape, one floor above her head. Its spiked tail twitched. "You're a Digimon!" she continued, amazed. Not the most intelligent conversation maybe, but Tania was rather shocked at the whole thing. She hadn't seen any evidence of the digital world (although she often thought of it) in four years!

The little creature straightened with an unmistakable look of pride on its face. "I'm not just any Digimon. I'm Cunomon, Digi-Destined Digimon and Digimon Dragon, at your service!"

Tania's jaw was on the ground. "Cunomon! I don't believe it! It's me, Tania! I was there when you fought Yacutimon!"

Cunomon's jaw dropped right alongside the human girl's. "Tania? Hey! It's me, Cunomon! Oh wait, I already said that. Heh heh." The dragon Digimon squeezed between the bars of the side rail and leaped down to the ground. He sneezed at the dust that his landing stirred, then peered at the digi-vice. "That doesn't look like any digi-vice I've ever seen," commented the Rookie.

"Me either," she agreed. "It's not mine; I wonder who it belongs to?"

"Not me," announced Cunomon.

"I didn't think so. Hey, how _did_ you get here, anyway?" Tania bent over to pick up the odd, still-glowing digi-vice.

"I've been here! See, when Unimon—yikes!" The moment the girl's hand came in contact with the digital device the cheerful yellow light shining from it turned bright green. The gut wrenching, pulling sensation that followed wasn't new to either of them. A whirlwind gusted into existence in the alley between the apartments. Papers, bottles and other small pieces of debris flew. When the wind settled, the Digimon and the Digi-Destined that had been standing there were gone.

* * *

"No way!" The shaggy blue dragon paced around the television, looking at it from all angles. "Are you trying to tell me all these TV's all over the place are _all_ gateways to the real world?" He looked over the rabbit ears on the top to shoot a glance at Diratimon.

"They're called digi-ports," reported the winged dragon. "And without a D3 they're just pretty pieces of scenery."

"But we've _got_ a D3," Yazumon pointed out, remembering the odd digi-vice Lina had shown him. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Hold on, Yaz." Lina shook her head. "We can't just leap to the real world and expect to find Tania. The real world is huge. She could be anywhere."

The dragon Digimon's red eyes blinked. "Anywhere?"

" 'Fraid so. We could search our entire lives and never find her."

Yazumon sighed and sat down next to the television. His claws clenched into a fist and he raised it to punch the offending appliance, but then his hand dropped. He had been so close. . . .

Diratimon hopped closer. "Tania never told you where she lived?"

He shrugged. "We never talked about it much. Too busy running around, saving the Digiworld, that kind of stuff."

Lina came forward too, and wrapped an arm around his shaggy shoulders. "Don't be too disappointed, Yazumon. Who knows? Maybe we'll find her." The blonde girl bit her lip. That sounded dumb and fake. But Yaz smiled gratefully at her.

"At least now I know the gateway between the worlds is open, which is more than I did before. Now at least there's hope."

"Right, right. The power of hope and love and all that." Diratimon waved his wing, while covering a yawn with the other. "If we're done, can we go now? I'm hungry. And tired. Mostly hungry. Can we go somewhere to eat?"

Lina frowned. She had forgotten Diratimon's odd actions, but now she was reminded. No way Diratimon should have been so worn out from a battle with a simple Tyrannomon.

Apparently the other Digimon Dragon felt the same way. "You feeling okay, Dirati?" he asked, concerned.

"Of course!" The splotched Digimon waved away their worry. "I'm fine! Geesh, lose a couple nights' sleep and suddenly everyone thinks you've come down with the digi-flu."

But Yazumon's troubled look didn't fade. It was an odd expression for one who was usually so laid back and carefree. "Actually," he murmured slowly, "I haven't been sleeping so great either. Bad dreams?"

Diratimon's lime green eyes opened wide in surprise. "Yeah. Every time I begin to doze off."

"Me too. I wonder if it's affecting all Digimon?" The two Digimon lapsed into silence, thinking.

Lina's frown only deepened. "Oh man, I don't like this at all," she said. "What if it's a new attack by the Emperor?" She sighed. Whatever was happening to her best friend, she couldn't do a thing about it! "What can we do?" she finished helplessly.

Diratimon snorted. "You're worrying over nothing; I'm sure of it. It's probably just stress. The Digiworld hasn't faced anything like the Digimon Emperor before, and it's showing the strain. That's all. And I know what we can do. We can eat! Come on, I know a little restaurant not far from here. And if you agree to wash dishes afterward, the food's free!"

Yazumon's cocky grin was back, as he stood up and brushed himself off. "Now that sounds like my kinda place!"

"And we can ask the Digimon there if they've felt anything similar to what you two are going through," added Lina.

Diratimon rolled his eyes. "Are you ever gonna drop that? Now come on. There's a bowl of stew with my name on it!"

* * *

"Ouch. That . . . hurt more than I remember," groaned Tania, holding her head. She combed the strands of brown hair out of her face as she looked around. Big trees, with big leaves and big flowers. Hmm. This place looked familiar. . . .

Beside her, Cunomon groaned. He had landed on his head, with his hind feet and tail flipped over so that they dangled in front of his face. With another moan he flopped over and sprawled out on his belly. "A lot more than I remember," he agreed, massaging a bump on his head, beside his first yellow spike. Suddenly his nose shot up in the air and he inhaled deeply. "Hey, where are we?" he gasped. "This smells like . . . like. . . ."

"Digiworld!" Tania finished, scrambling to her feet. "I don't believe it! I'm really back!"

"Me too!" Cunomon had a huge smile on his face. "I'm home! Whoo!" He jumped into the air and landed on all four feet. Then he looked left and right, blinking a few times. "Hey, where's Lexx? She should be here too!" He turned to the human girl he was accompanying.

Tania was barely listening. "This is so wonderful!" she murmured to herself. "It's just like I remember! Say, I wonder where Yaz is. Man, he's going to be so happy to see me! I wonder what happened to my hat?" Grinning with excitement, she started off into the woods surrounding them.

Cunomon stared. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?" The girl didn't look back. "Well, at least wait for me!" he called, dashing after her. "Tania, where's the digi-vice that brought us here?" he asked as he caught up.

"Huh?" She looked down at her hands, as if expecting to see it there. But her hands were empty. Her Cola bottle had also gotten lost somewhere along the way. "I must have dropped it."

"Well, shouldn't we go get it?"

"We can do that later, Cunomon. I have to find Yaz!"

"Yazumon? He could be anywhere in the entire digital world!"

Tania shook her head. "Nope. He's close. I can feel it." One of her hands went to her orange T-shirt and touched her heart. "I know he's close," she repeated softly.

The sky blue dragon didn't say anything to that, but he wasn't above thinking his response. _Great. Why do I get stuck with the nuts Digi-Destined? I wish Lexx were here._

An hour and a half later, he was still thinking that, along with some things that shouldn't be repeated. Not only was he hungry, tired and bored, he was also bewildered—the Digiworld had changed a lot since he'd been here last! He didn't recognize this place at all! Maybe this wasn't File Island _or_ Server? If not, where was it?

To top it all off, Tania wasn't really that great of a conversationalist. She hadn't said more than ten words since she'd assured him that they were "close" to Yazumon. And she only spoke when Cunomon asked her a direct question. She hadn't even slowed her pace. Forget nuts, this Digi-Destined was possessed!

He started to debate with himself whether or not he should leave her, maybe go back to find the strange digi-vice, but it just didn't seem right. Digi-Destined Digimon were supposed to protect Digi-Destined. It was their job, they're destiny. Of course, without Lexx he couldn't digi-volve, and he didn't know how much a Rookie could do if something really nasty decided it wanted Digi-Destined for lunch. But still, it was the principle of the thing!

The little Digimon was so lost in weighing the pros and cons of his dilemma that he was totally oblivious to the fact that the trees were thinning and Tania was slowing down. Finally she stopped altogether, and Cunomon bumped into the back of her legs. Something bonked him on the head and bounced away. "Oof. Sorry, Tania." He looked up at her and cocked his head. "Er, Tania?"

The girl shuddered deeply, and looked around as if for the first time. "W-where are we, Cuno?" she asked. Her voice sounded lost, and afraid.

"How should I know?" he grumbled. "You were the one leading—hey! Look!" There on the grass was the odd-shaped digi-vice, sitting innocuously. That was what had hit him on the head.

"I-I guess I put it in my pocket," she stuttered, staring at the object. "I sorta remember, but. . . ." She shuddered again. "I don't like it, Cuno. Whatever it is, I don't think it's a digi-vice."

Her Digimon friend stared at the device. "Sure looks like one. Do you mean it was _controlling_ you or something like that?" His yellow eyes were round.

Tania stuffed her hands into her pockets and turned away. "I dunno. Maybe. But I'm not touching it again, that's for sure. As soon as I realized I was in Digiworld, the only thing I could think of was finding Yaz. I was like a zombie!"

"Yikes," muttered Cunomon. "Scary. So, why'd ya stop?"

"Uh . . . I don't think I really had a choice." Cunomon turned from the digi-vice to look at her. That was when he realized they had left the forest and now stood on the edge of a steep hill, almost a cliff, overlooking a medium-sized building with a small parking lot and a huge sign proclaiming "The Digi-Diner." Below them they watched as the door to the building opened and three figures stepped out.

Tania gasped. "I don't believe it!" she said for the second time that day. "It's Yazumon!"

"It is?" Cunomon squinted. "Are you sure? They're kinda far away." No answer. "Tania?" He turned. "Tania!" She had leapt over the edge of the hill and was half sliding, half running down the slope. Cunomon's yellow eyes rolled skyward. "Why me?" he asked the heavens, before jumping after her. What he wouldn't give to have wings now!

* * *

Lexx giggled as she spun the purple yo-yo on her index finger, ignoring the people looking at her on the street. She had felt bad about going out and leaving Cuno at home, but sometimes a girl just needed an afternoon to herself. To make up for it she had bought this cute little gadget for him. She wasn't exactly sure how Cunomon could use it—maybe she'd make the loop on the end bigger so he could fit one of his big claws in it, or maybe she'd tie it to his tail. Anyway, it was the thought that counted. And Cuno loved anything new to play with.

Lexx had learned to accept city life for what it was. Crowded, yes. Smelly and dirty sometimes, sure. Lacking much plant life, definitely. But on the other hand, friends were a lot closer now, and it was a lot easier if she wanted to hop down to the art supply store. As the teenage girl strolled down the sidewalk, she kept one eye on the swiftly traveling toy on her fingertip and the other on the way ahead of her. She managed to dodge pedestrians and people on bicycles without too much trouble. Nevertheless, she almost walked right by the door to her apartment complex.

She chuckled and pocketed the yo-yo. "You bought this for Cuno, not yourself," she scolded, yanking open the door that led to the foyer. It was almost five; the entrance hall was dim and bathed in shadows. Hoping Toru had nodded off by now (you could never guess when that boy would get tired) she headed for the stairs leading up to the apartments.

"Well, 'bout time you got here," a voice spoke from under the stairs.

Lexx froze. She'd know that voice anywhere . . . but something was off. "Cuno?" she asked. "That you? What's wrong?" No answer, but she was close enough to hear someone breathing. "Mom's going to be upset if you left without telling her." She took a step toward the stairs.

Still no answer. The dark-haired girl was almost close enough to look under the stairs. Now she was worried. Her Digimon partner had been exceptionally quiet today, and though she had put it out of her mind until now, the nightmare he'd had last night might have stayed with him. Feeling guilt join her concern—she'd gone out to have fun while her friend sat at home, maybe sick—Lexx took the last few steps and bent over the peer under the stairs.

"Hah!" A dark blur leaped out at her. She saw the gleam of the low lighting on claws. The Digi-Destined screamed in surprise and stumbled backward. "That's not funny, Cunomon!" she gasped, holding her chest.

"Then why are we laughing?" an ugly voice snickered from behind her.

Lexx spun around, her throat suddenly tight. Her heart thumped wildly. Two other dark shapes stood between her and the front door. They had appeared silently. Before she could get a good look, movement at her side made her head swivel back. Cuno grinned widely, slowly padding closer to her and forcing her back a step. No. . . . That wasn't Cunomon.

What she had mistaken for shadows and bad light was actually black skin. Pale white spines traveled down his back. Hard gray eyes leered at her. As four-year-old memories crashed down on the girl like an ocean wave, Lexx realized she was looking at the virus copy of her Digimon companion.

The other two—they could only be the Yazumon and Diratimon copies—closed in from the other side. Lexx backed toward the stairs, desperately trying to keep all three of them in her line of sight. She felt very vulnerable, and very afraid.

"This-this is impossible!" she gasped. Her voice was high and tight. "We deleted you!"

The shaggy black virus sneered, his blood-red eyes gleaming. "Everyone was reborn when the digital world was reconfigured four years ago," he said, his words dripping venom. Beside him the gray, winged Rookie chuckled evilly.

"What do you want?" she demanded weakly. Her T-shirt and jean shorts were going to be poor protection in a fight. If she could get upstairs, to Cunomon . . . but her parents and Toru were up there. And she didn't have a digi-vice. Cuno would be outnumbered.

The virus Yazumon smiled wickedly. "Revenge!" The word was a growl, as he flexed his red claws. A swipe at her leg sent Lexx scrambling backward, hitting the wall at the foot of the stairway. It was the only way out.

"No!" the dark gray Diratimon commanded. He soared over the girl's head, forcing her to duck, and landed on the fifth step. So much for her only escape. "We have to bring her back first. _Then_ we get revenge. On them all." His pure black eyes seemed to be promising something very, very bad. "Catch, Digi-Destined!" He flung something at her.

Lexx didn't even have time to think. Her hand shot up automatically and closed around something small and rectangular, and the foyer was lit up in green light.

* * *

Yazumon's pointed ears perked up as a faint voice carried to him over the wind. "Yaz! Yaz!" someone was calling, over and over again. Already halfway across the parking lot of The Digi-Diner, he stopped and whipped his head toward the sound. Red eyes widened as their owner instantly recognized the figure sprinting toward him from the foot of the hill that cast the diner in shadow. Only two thoughts occurred to him as he began to run.

She sure looked a lot different now.

And he didn't care.

"Yaz!" Tania cried, dropping to her knees and throwing her arms around her Digimon.

"Tania!" he answered, returning her embrace just as strongly. In the commotion the orange baseball hat flew off the Digimon's head and landed on the pavement beside them. Neither noticed.

Lina, standing to the side, smiled at the reunion and gave her own Digimon a brief squeeze. They were lucky kids all right.

"No one . . . notice . . . me," a new voice panted, staggering around one of the vehicle's parked in the lot (a strange yellow contraption with wheels like a monster truck). The little sky blue and yellow Digimon collapsed in front of Lina, tongue hanging out.

Diratimon chuckled. "Nice of you to join us, whiner," he smirked, patting the Rookie on the head with a wing. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up."

Cunomon picked himself up so fast that it was obvious most of his exhaustion was an act. "Hi yourself, Diratimon," he glared.

"It's nice to see you again, Cunomon," Lina said, more sincerely than her Digimon had. "Where's Lexxy?"

"Back in the real world," sighed the four-footed dragon. "Where I should be, looking after her. Instead I got roped into this adventure with her." He pointed at Tania with his tail. "Still, it's nice to be back in Digiworld, I guess."

The brown-haired girl and her Digimon had been talking, giving hurried explanations on both sides. At Cunomon's mention Tania stood and came over. "Lina! It's great to see you again." She smiled.

"Same here." The two girls hugged for a moment, then looked down at the three dragons. "We need to get Lexxy," the blonde pointed out.

Tania's smile faded. "That's not all," she insisted. "I think there's something going on here. I haven't had anything to do with the digital world for four years, and suddenly I not only meet Cunomon again but find a weird digi-vice that zaps me here, all in the same five minutes. And Yaz says he and Diratimon have been having bad dreams."

Cunomon gasped. "Me too!" he yelped. "Last night! Someone was . . . trying to take me away." His voice dropped in horror. "And it really happened. Here I am."

"I think someone is after the Digimon Dragons from the prophecy," was Yazumon's opinion. He looked up at his partner. "What do you think?"

"I think Lexxy's in trouble," said Tania gravely.

Cuno groaned. "Well, what are we waiting for? We have to get back to the real world and get her!"

"Easier said than done," grumbled Yazumon, crossing his arms over his chest.

Cunomon blinked, noticing his differences for the first time. "Hey, Yaz! Yaz? Er, what happened to you?"

"Nothing!" retorted the other Digimon. When Cunomon continued to look baffled he added, "Never mind. It's a long story. Don't we have a Digi-Destined to find?"

_That_ took Cunomon's mind off the fact that a Digimon once looking enough like him to be his twin was now walking on his hind legs and sporting an orange baseball cap. As he took a breath to agree Lina spoke up.

"That might not be as hard as it sounds. All we have to do is find the closest digi-port and that'll take us back to the real world. Well, it'll take me anyway. I don't know what you meant by 'weird digi-vice,' Tania, but if it's a D3 you can use it to open the gateways between the real world and the Digiworld." She held her own up for the brunette to examine.

Tania shook her head. "It wasn't anything like that. And even if it was, I wouldn't want to use it to go anywhere." She shuddered, and at the blonde's questionable look explained how she and Cunomon had ended up in the digital world.

"That's weird all right!" exclaimed Diratimon. "I've never heard of anything like that before! And you left it up there, on that hill?"

"Well I sure wasn't going to hang onto it!" she snapped. "That thing was messing with my head!"

"Maybe we should just go look at it," suggested Lina easily. "Maybe it can tell us something about why we're all being . . . collected like this. Brought together."

Tania folded her arms across her chest, now looking just like her Digimon. "I'm not going near that thing," she snorted.

Cunomon chose that moment to butt in. "Can I remind us all that we still have to find Lexx? We can get that stupid digi-vice later!"

Diratimon rolled his eyes and was cut off from a remark by his partner glaring at him. Yazumon thumped his arrowhead tail on the ground. "Cunomon's right. Let's head to that television you two showed me. It's not that far." This last was to Tania, who only looked confused.

"What's a television got to do with a digi-port?"

"We'll explain as we go," grinned Lina. "Come on, Cuno. Cuno?"

She looked around for him, then found the little Digimon was already crossing the parking lot in the direction they had been going. He looked back at them over his shoulder and called, "Hurry up! I wanna get to Lexx!"

"Why does he keep calling her Lexx?" wondered Tania as the other four set out after the Digimon Dragon, but no one answered her.

Fifteen minutes later, the five of them were still strolling through the wide, endless-looking grassy field opposite the diner and its parking lot, though the building had faded into the distance a while ago. The digital sun was setting, casting the land in a deep orange light. It was beautiful, really. Enough to make some forget its light was cast on a world being conquered by a tyrant. But the small group was more concerned in their conversation than the scenery. As they walked, they filled each other in on all that had happened during the four years they had been separated, and added details on the circumstances leading to their meeting now.

"So she went out with friends," Cunomon was saying, looking disgusted. "And she didn't take me! But she needs to be looked after. And I'm the 'mon for the job. I snuck out through the fire escape, and—"

He was cut off by a scream.

All five froze at the sound. Ahead of them the field—which wasn't flat, but rolled with small hillocks and mounds—blocked their view, but it was unmistakably where the sound came from.

A shudder ran over Cunomon's skin. Wild-eyed, he suddenly leaped forward with a cry of, "LEXX!"

Diratimon and Yazumon stared at each other, then charged after their fellow dragon. Lina and Tania were right behind them, but their faster Digimon soon left them behind.

The two girls topped the rise after what seemed like an eternity, staring down into the little pocket of land in amazement. For a moment it seemed like some kind of sick joke, or a trick of the eyes. But in a moment both had assured themselves that this was reality.

The three blue Digimon Dragons were deep in battle with three black viruses. And not just any viruses. There was no question these were the copies they had faced four years ago. Even as Tania and Lina stood, frozen in shock, the dark gray Diratimon dove from the sky and slammed the blue original into the ground. The black Yazumon slashed at his counterpart from every direction, forcing the true one to use all his dexterity and speed to stay on his feet and unharmed. And the real Cunomon was applying all his skill to driving back his ebony twin, putting himself between the evil Rookie and a girl with black hair on the ground, clutching a leg with a bright red streak running down it.

"Diratimon!" Lina's voice broke the spell that held herself and Tania motionless, and she rushed down the incline with her blue-green D3 held high. "Digi-armor Energize!"

As the virus Diratimon swooped in for another attack, his opponent began to glow. "Diratimon armor digi-volve to . . . CerulRyumon: The Protector of Kindness!"

The larger winged Digimon swept the evil Diratimon to one side, then flipped the Yazumon copy away with a swing of his tail. Yazumon nodded his thanks as he ran after Lina and Tania, who were hurrying across the battlefield to help Lexx and Cunomon.

One well-placed Plasma Blaster sent the black Cunomon tumbling end over end to join the other two viruses, who were regrouping to strike at CerulRyumon together. The Armor Digimon kept himself between them and his friends as the Digi-Destined converged on the last pair of the prophesied dragon Digimon.

Cunomon sat down, breathing hard. "I could use some exercise," he gasped to no one in particular. "I forgot how much energy it takes to battle." Then he twisted around with a cry and leaped into his Digi-Destined's arms. "Oh, Lexx! I was so worried!"

She hugged him back fiercely. "You weren't the only one," she said.

Tania and Lina were by her side in a moment. "Are you all right?" Lina asked anxiously. "Can you stand up?"

Cunomon gasped and slithered out of her grip. "You're bleeding!" he cried, shocked at the sight of the line of bright red trailing down her leg. "Like, with blood!" His face turned several shades of blue paler.

"It's not bad," she assured them all. "It stings, but that's it. That Cunomon copy tripped me when I tried to run off, and I cut my leg on one of his spikes."

Cunomon growled, fire blazing in his eyes. "I'll delete that little. . . ." He trailed off, muttering threats, as he turned to CerulRyumon and the viruses. At that moment all three of them leapt at the blue Digimon, but he powered up with his Cerulean Lightning attack and they fell back from the electricity that surrounded his body like a shield.

"Tania? Lina? Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's you!" The little blue Rookie turned back to see his companion grasp the two girls by the hand and grin. "We're all together again!"

"Yeah, but not by choice," stated Tania, as she dug a bandana out of her pocket. "Good thing I always carry one of these around," she commented, tying it firmly around the thin gash on Lexx's leg.

"Yeah, we _were _all forced to come together!" realized Cunomon. "Even them!" He pointed to the subdued viruses. Every time one of them tried to get to the humans and Rookies the Armor Digimon knocked them back.

"I've got news for you," remarked Lexx, grunting as Tania pulled one of the injured girl's arms over her shoulders to help her to her feet. "Those three are working for whoever it is that brought us together like this. Thanks, Tania." She pulled away to stand by herself, wincing a little.

"Yeah, but who?" The brown-haired girl clutched her hand into a fist and shook it skyward. "I wanna know who's behind this!"

Instantly, what little sunlight was left vanished, plunging them all into darkness broken only by starlight. "Man, I wish you'd watch what you wish for, Tania," Yazumon muttered.

"Sound advice for any individual," a soft, smooth voice commented.

There was a moment of stunned silence; then Lina called out into the darkness. "Who said that?"

The same voice replied, "The one who, as your companion so aptly put it, 'is behind this.'" Slowly the lights went up. The group gasped.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Cuno," Lexx muttered, eyeing the new panorama that had magically surrounded them. Stars spread across the heavens above them . . . and below.

"Whoa!" gulped Tania. "We're . . . floating!"

"In outer space, no less," Lina added dryly. "But still breathing and somehow not freezing to death." And it was true. Above and below, on every side, the blackness of the universe surrounded them. Stars sparkled like tiny jewels. Nebulas of different colored gases—red, pink, yellow, blue—added to the backdrop. A few planets drifted among the darkness. The virus copies had vanished.

"I don't like this," muttered Cunomon, floating beside Lexx. "How are we supposed to move?" The Digimon tried to walk, but there was nothing to push off of. He twisted and turned, thrashing his tail, but nothing propelled him anywhere.

"No, like this." Diratimon had resumed his Rookie form and flapped his wings rapidly. Unfortunately, this neither moved him nor stirred up the breeze it usually did. "Huh?" wondered the little winged dragon in bewilderment.

"I have taken the liberty of removing your propulsion ability. Do not be alarmed. I only wish for a 'captive' audience." The smooth voice was back, and chuckled softly at its own wit.

Tania scowled. "Hey, stop hiding in the shadows, whoever you are! Show yourself!"

"Yeah, fight like a 'mon!" Yazumon challenged, wearing a matching expression.

Another low chuckle. "Of course. Why did you believe I called you here together?"

Seconds ticked by, and nothing moved in the stillness of space. The Digimon Dragons and their Digi-Destined waited, ears straining. Then Lexx gasped and pointed. The space directly in front of the six was wavering, like water. It began to solidify, turning a strange green tint. The green blob of . . . something . . . stretched and changed, tendrils reaching out. And then it wasn't a green blob floating there at all, but a figure, sitting calmly and watching them with half-lidded eyes.

It had long legs, somewhat like a kangaroo, and a long tail that ended with four round orbs. Its arms, strangely, had an extra joint, so they were also long and had _two_ elbows each. The hands at the end of those arms ended in two fingers and a thumb, which were shaped like suction cups. Thin, wavy ears stood straight out from its head. And it was bright, lime green. With purple spots.

If it weren't for those placid, all-knowing eyes that somehow stared right into you, the "captive audience" would have laughed out loud.

"I imagine you have many questions for me, Dragon-Destined."

The three girls blinked in unison. "What did you say?" Lina asked, expressing the confusion of all of them.

Again that soft chuckle. "Forgive me. I wasn't aware you did not the term. You have never actually heard the prophecy, have you?"

Yazumon was the first the make the connection, although it was fairly obvious. One of his clawed hands went to his head and scratched under his orange cap. "You mean the Digimon Dragons prophecy, don't you?"

"Indeed I do, young Rookie."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Diratimon was tired of all this mystery; he wanted answers. "Who are you? You're not like any Digimon I've ever heard of before."

"_Is_ he even a Digimon?" Cunomon wondered doubtfully. "I've never heard of a Digimon who could do stuff like this before." The little dragon glanced around the universe they all floated in.

Lina frowned thoughtfully. "This seems familiar . . . I remember! Izzy was telling me about a Digimon called Vademon, who had created his own universe!"

Lexx's green eyes darted around. "Seems like we have a match," she muttered.

But the green and purple Digimon snorted delicately. "Please. That amateur is an insult to Digimon of intelligence. He would never have had the ability to collect you from the real world."

"But _why_?" Tania exploded. "What do you want with us?" The others echoed her question urgently. Diratimon wasn't the only one who wanted answers.

A little smile passed over the Digimon's face. "Your curiosity and innocence is refreshing. I knew the choice was correct when Ackmon decided you three were to fulfill the prophecy. Very well. First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Beediexmon, the greatest intellectual Digimon of the Digiworld. This is my universe, which resides on a parallel with the digital world and your own. I—" Here he paused, and seemed to measure them with his eyes, before continuing. "—am the Digi-Prophesier."

All three Rookie Digimon straightened a bit, looking at Beediexmon in an entirely new light (much to the confusion of their Digi-Destined). "You?" Diratimon gasped.

At the same time Lina asked, "Who?"

"The Digi-Prophesier," murmured Cunomon, eyes wide. "I can't believe it! No one _I_ ever met has ever met the Digi-Prophesier!" He hesitated and blinked at his odd sentence, then shook his head and continued. "Lexx, the Digi-Prophesier is the guy who predicts _all_ the prophecies of the Digiworld! No one knows him by any other name. He's only a legend . . . well, so was Yacutimon, now that I think of it."

"Ah, yes. Yacutimon. The Digimon Dragon. One of my favorites." Beediexmon's smile broadened.

Tania snorted, her brown eyes narrowed. "Are you telling me he just makes up stuff, and all you guys believe him like chumps?"

Yazumon, Diratimon and Cunomon all looked shocked.

Beediexmon laughed. It was the loudest sound he had made yet, yet it was still subdued, elegant. "I'm afraid you misunderstand the situation, Dragon-Destined. I am a prophesier. To a certain extent, I can foresee the future. These visions come to me in my dreams, and when I receive them I bring them to the digital world. It is my duty, and my right."

Lina was nodding slowly. "So this is why the Digiworld has so many legends. About the Digi-Destined, and ancient evils."

"And dragons!" added Yazumon with a grin.

"Yes, yes," said Beediexmon with approval. "I appreciate your intelligence as well. You are most certainly the ones I dreamed of."

"Tell us about the prophecy, Beediexmon," Lexx implored. "You were right; we never heard it." She didn't believe this Digimon was an enemy. Why he had the virus copies working for him she didn't know, but she planned on asking after. Cuno and the other two, however, were far from concerned about him. Their reactions were actually more like awe. And if anyone would know, they would.

In that always-calm voice, the Digi-Prophesier bowed his head and began to speak. "I remember the dream well. I do them all, of course. This one begins with six spheres of bright blue light, twirling, all the same. At first they are apart, all of them. But then they come together. In a circle they spin. Together. Glowing, spinning. Now they are different. Two are a brighter, lighter shade of the brilliant blue light. The other four are darker, greener. They spin faster. Faster. The ring becomes tighter and tighter, until the six spheres join as one. This new globe darkens to the color of the evening sky, and all at once there is another sphere, the color black as midnight. The spheres fly at one another, and there is an explosion of whiteness that covers everything. As it fades. . . ." Beediexmon raised his head to stare at them deeply. ". . . .only the evening sphere remains. Before I awake I am given names, just as I was given the name 'Digi-Destined' in another prophecy. They are Dragon-Destined, and the Digimon Dragons."

"That's exactly how it happened," breathed Lexx. "And in the end the black Yacutimon was destroyed." Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to ask, she put in, "Why are they working for you?"

"Yeah, and where are they now?" snarled Cunomon, his mood flipping like a light switch. "I have some major payback to give."

Beediexmon's fingers flexed once. "Realizing there is . . . ah, no love lost between you, I have decided to leave them out of our meeting. However, I would like to point out that all Digimon, no matter their intentions, have a right to live in Digiworld."

Now all six girls and Digimon were glaring in annoyance. "But they're evil!" shouted Tania.

"They're not even real Digimon," Diratimon snorted.

"I'm sure they've been causing lots of trouble, too," Cunomon insisted.

"No more than any other virus," the green and purple Digimon pointed out smoothly. "I'm sure there are troublesome humans in your world as well, Dragon-Destined?"

Lina smiled. She liked that term. "Yeah, there are," the blonde girl admitted.

"And?"

"And when they break the law, they go to jail. But as long as they keep to themselves and don't bother anyone. . . ."

Beediexmon inclined his head.

Yazumon scowled. "All well and good to preach about living in peace and all that while floating out here in the middle of nowhere, but in Digiworld you have to stop evil, before innocents get hurt. Troublemakers aren't _known_ for keeping to themselves; that's why they're called troublemakers. Because they cause other people harm."

The Digi-Prophesier made a shrugging motion. "This conversation is irrelevant. I did not bring you to my universe to discuss the rights of Digimon, nor were you brought here to change your opinions of your counterparts."

A moment of silence descended as the same thing occurred to all six guests at once. Lexx was the one to voice it. "So, why _did_ you bring us here?"

That mild, detached smile was back. "I merely wished to meet the beings of my dreams. I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating my life is, to prophesize all the amazing futures of the Digiworld, but never able to see my predictions come to fruit. Ah, I was so sorely tempted to remain with Leomon after telling him of my prophecy of the Digi-Destined. The same as I felt after informing Centarumon of the legendary digi-vices. And when I brought the Prophesy of Darkness to Gennai, to defeat Myotismon. . . . If only I could have lingered to meet them all myself."

"Why didn't you?" Lina asked with a furrowed brow. "I mean, why did you chose to meet _us_, out of all your prophecies? And why did you wait so long? It's been four years since Yacutimon fought." The other two Dragon-Destined nodded, wondering as well. Even the three Digimon looked confused.

"I was occupied." They waited, expecting more, but Beediexmon just stared back at them with those half-lidded eyes. Tension grew in the air.

Finally Cunomon coughed. His feeling of awe had been replaced with one of unease at this latest turn of questioning. Very little was known about the Digi-Prophesier, after all. Who knew what kind of Digimon he could be? "Well, what now?" the little sky blue and yellow dragon wanted to know. "You've met us. Are you going to send us back?"

Beediexmon chuckled. "Not yet, Digimon Dragon. You see, I have become rather bored, actually. I haven't had anything to do since I took my prophecy of the Armor Digimon to Gennai. And that was many years ago, before the so-called Digimon Emperor even appeared on the scene. So I constructed . . . oh, let's call it an obstacle course. And I have chosen you to be the participants. As I said before, the Yacutimon prophecy always has been one of my favorites. I'm sure this will be an entertaining experience for us all." The smile on his long snout increased marginally.

The atmosphere of this meeting had changed, and the Dragon-Destined and their Digimon could feel it. What had been a curious, if confusing, meeting with a legendary Digimon had become something more sinister. And by the obvious display of power Beediexmon had, they doubted they would be given a choice.

Warily, Tania stared hard at the Digimon. "What kind of obstacle course?"

"One that will test yourselves and your Digimon," he returned pleasantly. The Digi-Prophesier didn't _sound_ sinister. In fact, he could have been talking about the weather, instead of some kind of test. "And if anything should happen," he continued blandly, "you have already fulfilled your destiny, so no harm shall come to the digital world from your absence."

_That_ turned their unease to alarm, and quickly. "What do you mean, 'if anything should happen?'" yelped Lexx. "You can't do that!" She grabbed a hold of Cunomon, floating beside her, and held him in her arms.

"Of course I can," Beediexmon said, sounding slightly surprised. He hadn't even considered that he might be doing something wrong!

Yazumon and Diratimon growled.

"Plasma Blaster!"

"Electric Wind!"

Nothing happened. Beediexmon's face registered even more surprise. His purple eyelids rose a fraction. "You are not happy with this?"

"No!" all six shouted angrily.

"Hmm. . . ." The green and purple Digimon regarded them thoughtfully. Then his smile was back. "You will change your mind after you begin. I have put a lot of effort into this. It will make you stronger. No doubt you will thank we when it is over." Fully convinced, he clapped his strange hands together once.

"No!" the three dragons howled, struggling to move, to attack, to get at the Digi-Prophesier. They had to protect their partners. But they didn't move, and strings of golden light, like glowing threads, were surrounding the six.

"Beediexmon!" Lexx called desperately, trying to talk some sense into the Digimon. But the light-threads wrapped around and around the group until they were incased in a sphere of yellow light, and the universe beyond vanished, along with its creator.

* * *

"When I get my claws on that good-for-nothing Numemon. . . ." growled Diratimon. He landed in front of his partner, then folded his wings with a grimace. "There's nothing but those weird Digimon for miles and miles, in every direction. I even went up so high that I was beginning to see stars! Though that might have been because I was kinda running out of oxygen."

"It's okay, Dirati." Lina hugged her Digimon.

Lexx and Tania stood side by side, staring off into the distance. They were perched on the edge of the island they had been left on. It was perhaps as big as a city block, but featureless. Totally flat, with nothing but grass under their feet. The other end was easily in sight. And below them, over the edge of their little island of land. . . .

"I don't even know what kind of Digimon they are," muttered Cunomon, sitting beside Lexx and peering down doubtfully. They were ugly, whatever they were. Covered with brown, lumpy skin, with six legs like pipe cleaners sticking out from their squat bodies. A thin tail hung from one end, and a squashed face with tiny-pupiled eyes and blunt tusks bulged from the other. They fought amongst each other constantly, howling, gouging, slamming against one another. There didn't seem to be anything to fight over though, and they never seemed to get tired. Lucky for the girls and their Digimon, the island was raised above the jumping ability of these creatures. Not that it stopped them from occasionally trying.

And there were millions of them.

"That's simple," Yazumon snorted in response to Cunomon's comment. "They're the nasty kind."

"I'll agree with that," Tania voiced. All six knew they'd be torn apart in seconds if they descended among them.

Lina and Diratimon came over to stare with them. Across the sea of vicious Digimon sat another island of land. And on it, absurdly, stood a giant neon sign. It was large enough to read from their distance. It said "EXIT."

"This guy is either really dumb or has an awful sense of humor," added Tania, glaring resentfully across.

"And probably the latter," Lexx agreed.

Cunomon blinked. "What ladder, Lexx? I don't see any ladder."

All three humans burst out laughing. "Never mind, Cuno," the black-haired girl giggled. Her Digimon made a face at her.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask. Why does he keep calling you Lexx?" Tania demanded, hands on hips. "It sounds awful."

"Gee, thanks," she replied with a wry grin. "I haven't gone by Lexxy for years. It was . . . I dunno, too babyish."

"But it sounds awful!"

"Too bad, Tania. It's my name; I can say it however I want." She was laughing as she spoke.

The brunette snorted, but she was laughing too. "Too bad for you. I'm still calling you Lexxy."

Lexx stuck her tongue out at Tania. "Fine. Be that way."

"I will!"

Yazumon and Cunomon rolled their eyes. "Humans!" they announced at the same time.

By now everyone was laughing again, including Lina and Diratimon. And instead of calming down, their laughter just went on and on, until they were holding their sides with tears glistening in their eyes. If the laughter was a little hysterical, well, that wasn't too surprising. Being stuck in a small space with destruction threatening from every side was taking its toll.

"I'm heartened to see you enjoying yourselves."

The laughter died instantly. Yazumon and Cunomon leapt to their feet, and their humans backed away a step. The green and purple Digimon was hovering in the air before them, above the swarming mass of monsters below. But he was faded, wispy. The cloudy sky could be seen right through him.

"It's some sort of hologram," Lina told her friends. "Like the ones Gennai used to use."

"I decided not to appear here fully, in case you were in heated battle," explained the Digi-Prophesier.

"Get us out of here!" Diratimon yelled, baring his sharp teeth.

"Not yet, not yet. Come now, you haven't even made it past your first obstacle. I expected much more from the Digimon Dragons. The Florgenmon constructs are simple-minded. Surely you can find a way across them?"

"Florgenmon?" repeated Yazumon.

At the same time, Cunomon echoed, "Constructs?" He looked at Lexx questionably.

"I think he means that he created them," she replied. "They're not real Digimon."

"Correct again, Dragon-Destined," the image of Beediexmon assured. "Just as this landscape has been created by myself, so have all the opponents you shall face here."

"You think this is just some kind of stupid game!" Tania accused the Digimon angrily. "What if we refuse to be your chess pieces?"

"I'm sure hunger, if not sheer boredom, will move you eventually."

Lexx sighed and shook her head. "He's just going to leave us here until we do something," she muttered, not really caring that the Digi-Prophesier was floating right in front of her.

The other two girls and all three Digimon shared silent looks. Finally Lina gave her own sigh. "We might as well do it, then. The sooner we get over there, the sooner we're done. Diratimon, can you digi-volve? There aren't any Control Spires here."

The little winged Rookie cast a suspicious glance at Beediexmon, but he made no move or sound. "Sure thing, Lina," he nodded, when it didn't appear as if their host was going to stop him.

The others backed away to give him room. "Diratimon digi-volve to. . . ." In the place where the two-footed, winged, blue Digimon now stood a purple four-footed dragon, complete with yellow lightning bolts adorning his body. "Dracomon!"

Lina hopped on her Digimon's back, then held out her hand for Lexx and Tania. "No digi-vice," commented the black-haired girl as she climbed up. Tania nodded in agreement.

"Wait for us!" Cunomon and Yazumon jumped up beside their Digi-Destined. The Champion Digimon didn't have any trouble carrying five passengers, and leapt for the sky as his wings snapped open. Dracomon roared as he flew straight into Beediexmon's hologram. Still smiling knowingly, it blinked and went out as he passed through. Below them the Florgenmon snarled and snapped, leaping upward as Dracomon passed overhead. However, none of them came close. More often their six legs became entangled and they fell back among their fellows with more snarling and snapping.

It only took a few minutes to reach the second island. The large exit sign didn't change, and as they neared they saw a simple door under it. That was it. No wall. No doorframe. Just a door.

The Digimon Dragon landed, and as his friends leaped down from his back, Dracomon again became Diratimon. "Okay, who's gonna try the door?" he asked immediately.

"I will," Yazumon announced with a grim face. He was anxious to get back to the way things were before. The shaggy dragon was worried that Beediexmon would soon tire of watching them run around like Ratmon in a maze. The dragon Digimon had no doubt this wasn't the salvation it appeared to be; no way was Beediexmon letting them go this early in the game. Anxious to end it as soon as possible, he reached out and grabbed the doorknob with his red claws.

* * *

"Whoa. . . ." Lina touched her temple lightly, feeling dizzy. _What in the. . . ?_ Her fuzzy thoughts cleared, and she remembered Yazumon reaching for the exit door. But that was the last thing she could recall. How had they ended up here?

"I guess it was too much to hope for that that was the real exit," Lexx, beside her, muttered in disgust. Her green eyes widened. "What's _that_!?"

The blonde girl looked. They were standing in the middle of a wide, grassy path, stretching into the distance before them. To the left and right tall leafy trees towered over them. The forest was so densely packed there would be no getting through it. Someone obviously wanted them going in a certain direction.

But what had caught Lexx's eye soared over even the trees. Tall black monoliths rose up into the sky. They ran parallel to the path, spaced evenly apart, as if they were strange wireless telephone polls.

"Control Spires," Diratimon spat.

"Control what?" parroted Lexx.

At the same time Cunomon asked, "What Spires?"

"They cancel out the digi-volving process," elaborated Yaz, gazing upward uneasily. "Unless you can armor digi-volve."

Lexx looked blank. "What?"

"The Digimon Emperor put them up, so no one can oppose him," Tania explained.

The black-haired girl continued to look confused. "Who?"

Lina chuckled at her friend's expression. "I think a demonstration's in order. Do you think CerulRyumon could carry us all, Dirati?"

The Rookie nodded. "I'll try."

She took out her D3, explaining its name and function. "To activate it, you say these words," she added. "Digi-armor Energize!"

Nothing happened.

Surprised, Lina repeated her call. Still nothing. "What's going on?" the girl murmured. Then her eyes popped open and a hand darted into her pocket. "My D-Terminal's gone!" she gasped.

"What?" Lexx asked once again, beginning to feel exasperated.

"It stores Digi-Eggs electronically," said Lina, worried. "And before you ask, the Digi-Eggs are what able the Digimon to armor digi-volve."

Cunomon stretched and stood. "Looks like we walk," he announced. The others agreed, not seeing any other option.

So they walked.

The hike gave them the opportunity to describe everything to Lexx, and before too long the last of the six was up to date on what had been happening to the Digiworld in the last four years, and what circumstances had brought them all together again. In turn, she told them of her meeting with the three virus copies.

"Oh good," Cunomon proclaimed bitterly. "They know where we live! Great!" But when his partner glanced down she found his eyes weren't full of anger; they were filled with fear.

"Don't worry, Cuno. Dad's home. He'll take care of Mom and Toru."

"It's _my_ job to protect us," insisted the Digimon.

"You're here protecting me! You can't be in two places at once!"

"Still," he sighed softly. "I wish we could warn them."

"Yeah."

Lina patted Lexx's shoulder comfortingly, and smiled when the distraught girl looked over. She gave a small smile of thanks in return.

Tania and Yaz, slightly ahead, paused. The female shaded her head with a hand. "There's something in the path," she called back in warning.

They hurried forward, Diratimon flying overhead. Tania's discovery seemed inanimate—and harmless enough—so they didn't hesitate to approach. Suddenly Lina broke into a run.

"I don't believe it!" the others heard her exclaim as they gave chase. Suddenly she stopped so short, Tania crashed into her . . . and Lexx crashed into _her_ . . . and Cunomon and Yazumon almost caused the whole lot of them to tumble to the ground as they struck Lexx from behind. Diratimon fluttered to a landing beside his Digi-Destined, as awestruck as she was by what was before them.

"It's. . . ." she began.

". . . .our Digi-Egg," he finished.

They all crowded around. It was sitting on a pedestal of black stone, perfectly innocuous in the middle of the path. Oblong in shape, the Digi-Egg of Kindness was blue-green with a jagged purple ring around its middle. Two wing-shapes protruded, one from either side, and two clawed feet were attached to the bottom. On the front was, of course, the Crest of Kindness, in black.

"The Digi-Egg of Kindness," Lina announced quietly, reverently. "I've claimed it before. It should be in my D-Terminal. It should! That Beediexmon guy must have—"

"Just pick it up, Lina!" insisted Diratimon.

"Right." She stepped forward, arms outstretched. Lexx and Tania watched with fascination, along with their Digimon, as the blonde girl wrapped her hands around the wings and tugged. But to her very evident surprise, it wouldn't budge! Lina tried harder, grasping the Egg itself and yanking. No good. The thing seemed to be a part of the stone pedestal. "What's wrong with this thing?" she finally sighed in frustration. "I picked it up before! If that stupid Numemon thinks he's giving the Digi-Egg of Kindness to someone younger—"

"Calm down, Lina." Lexx stepped up beside her. "This is Beediexmon's world, remember. The rules probably work differently here." She touched the Digi-Egg gently, tried pushing and pulling it with no success. "Maybe . . . maybe we need to show off our strength! Tania, help me here!" She grabbed the base, and the brunette leaped forward and gripped the wings. Together they strained at moving the small figurine.

Lina sighed as she watched and shook her head. "It doesn't work that way, guys. Only the rightful holder of the Digi-Egg can pick it up. Guys? Guys!" Both girls were ignoring her, continuing to struggle with the stuck Egg.

Finally Lina snorted and reached to slap their hands away. But the moment her fingers touched the Digi-Egg, the small object sprang from the pedestal as if alive! All three girls were flung backward, landing on their rears in the grass as the Digimon Dragons scrambled back to avoid being landed on. They all looked up just in time to see two bright blue flashes of light come streaking out from under the Digi-Egg. And to everyone's further shock, they shot right into Lexx's and Tania's hands!

The two girls stared at their new possessions. They looked like Lina's D3, but somehow . . . cruder. Simpler. They were both a simple gray in color, without the buttons.

And above the six sprawled on the ground, the Digi-Egg of Kindness hovered in the air. Almost invitingly.

"Wow," Lexx said simply.

Tania nodded. "I second that."

There was silence, as they watched and waited to see what the Digi-Egg would do. But it remained motionless, suspended in the air. Cuno, Yaz and Dirati picked themselves up and clustered around their Digi-Destined. The former two were studying their partners' new D3's. Which was why Diratimon was the first to see the next development in their situation.

Standing on his tiptoes, he was at the moment the tallest of them all. The winged Digimon's voice suddenly got tight as he stared far ahead. "Lina?" he squeaked. "We've got company!"

Everyone bolted to their feet, Lina pulling out her D3 so that they were all holding them. Their various eyes focused beyond the floating Digi-Egg of Kindness, to something far ahead of them on the path. At first it appeared as if a dam of milk had broken lose. A wide flood of white was flowing toward them.

Diratimon took off. Flapping for a higher vantage point, he reported down to them what he saw. "They're Digimon!" he called down, sounding only slightly panicked. "Hundreds, but not as many as the Florgenmon. I can see the end of them. They're . . . I recognize them! They're Houndmon!"

"Oh good," muttered Yazumon. "Only hundreds this time."

"What level are they?" Lexx wanted to know.

"Rookies," answered Cunomon, watching the approaching swarm. "Not that strong, but with that many. . . ."

"We don't have a chance," supplied Tania. Yazumon nodded unhappily.

"No, we _do!_" Lina abruptly blurted out. "I think I get it. Beediexmon made it so we couldn't pick up the Digi-Egg of Kindness until we all touched it together. Then he gave you two D3's, just like I'll bet he sent those digi-vices to bring you to Digiworld. I'll wager anything we can all armor digi-volve now!"

The Digimon Dragons leapt in front of their humans. The Houndmon were closing in fast. They were now near enough to make out. Sleek white shapes, like greyhounds. Long ears tipped in black. And unlike real Houndmon, which had warm brown eyes, these creatures had blank white eyes without pupils.

"Better try it now!" Diratimon yelped. "They'll be here any second!"

The three Dragon-Destined looked at each other and nodded. Hands curled around three electronic devices.

"Digi-armor Energize!" Lina, Tania and Lexx cried out as one.

Immediately, the Digi-Egg of Kindness burst into brilliant blue-green light. And that light shot out and enveloped the three Digimon Dragons.

"Diratimon armor digi-volve to. . . !"

"Cunomon armor digi-volve to. . . !"

"Yazumon armor digi-volve to. . . !"

The light faded, and above them a cerulean Digimon with a blue-green and purple mask flapped his broad blue wings.

"CerulRyumon: The Protector of Kindness!"

To the left of the three girls stood a two-legged, sky blue Digimon with a tail ending in five yellow spikes. A blue-green mask covered his face, yellow eyes glaring out from it at the oncoming wave of opponents. The same-colored armor covered his chest, and spread into two wide wings of metal. The Crest of Kindness was planted square on his breast, and the rest of his blue-green armor was covered with purple lightning bolts.

"Wyvemon: Soaring Kindness!"

To the right was another two-footed Digimon of a darker blue coloring, with green tiger stripes. His mask was purple, and silver shin guards covered his lower legs. Orange wings attached to his arms.

"Slydramon: The Wings of Kindness!"

Two of the Armor Digimon let lose an earth-shaking roar and launched themselves at their enemies, leaving their partners behind. They closed the gap in moments.

"Cerulean Lightning!" CerulRyumon dropped from the sky like a cannonball, glowing with blue electricity. As he plowed through the Houndmon they vanished instantly.

Wyvemon's flight was like Angemon's, wings motionless. (It would be hard to move them, considering that they were part of the armor.) "Lightning Spikes!" the Armor Digimon called. A flick of his tail sent five streaks of yellow lightning shooting down into the masses of Houndmon. The creatures disintegrated as they hit, deleted. Wyvemon attacked again as the spikes on his tail reappeared.

Slydramon, baring his fangs dangerously, took up a position in front of the Dragon-Destined. He was ready to defend, no matter what it took.

Because it was obvious that the Houndmon were going to reach them before they could be stopped.

"Powering Wing!" screamed Slydramon. His orange wings started to glow, and then they weren't orange anymore. They were shining blades, and he charged at the Houndmon, slashing.

Pixels of data flew everywhere as Beediexmon's creations were deleted by the tens and twenties. Shots fell from the sky like rain. A streak of glowing blue darted in and out of the swarm. Another flashed silver, slicing left and right.

"Get the girls, Wyvemon!" CerulRyumon called, knocking aside several Houndmon as they leaped for the three Dragon-Destined.

"Right! Lightning Spikes!" The Armor Digimon swooped down right on the tail of his own attack, but veered off at the last second. Hesitating only long enough for the girls to scramble onto his back, between his wings, he soared back into the air and sent another barrage of electricity downwards. Then something bright caught his eye. Wyvemon turned his head to look.

"Slydramon! CerulRyumon! Disengage the enemy!"

"What!? You've got to be kidding me!" That was Slydramon. But his wings shifted from the sharp blades back to his orange wings as he leaped into the air, and he flapped up to Wyvemon's position. CerulRyumon joined them a second later.

"Look there! The exit!" Wyvemon pointed with one of his hind legs. There, in the distance, was a familiar neon sign.

"Let's go then!" the original Digimon of Kindness shouted, wheeling in the air. Slydramon and Wyvemon were right behind him, and the still-pretty impressive pack of Houndmon turned around and flowed after, unable to reach them but unwilling to give up the battle.

As they neared, it was obvious the door under the exit sign (same as before), wouldn't be big enough to admit the three Armor Digimon. They would have to devolve. But if they did that, they'd be dog food.

The three flyers hovered for a moment, watching the milling Houndmon and the tantalizing exit below.

Slydramon's wings fluttered. "I've got an idea!" he announced. "Wyvemon! CerulRyumon! Take out those trees!" He pointed with his wings to the towering trunks on either side of the path. Both of the Digimon understood, and flashed him toothy grins.

"Lightning Spikes!"

"Cerulean Lighting!"

The trees creaked, toppled right into the path. The Houndmon jumped back to avoid being crushed. And the beauty of Slydramon's plan was revealed: The trees were an effective dam against the flood of Houndmon. They blocked the way, and left the area right in front of the exit clear.

The Digimon Dragons and their Digi-Destined wasted no time in landing and devolving. They gazed at the awaiting door with a little trepidation. Then Lina reached over and touched the doorknob.

* * *

"Ya know," grumbled Cunomon, shaking the dizziness away from his head, "that's not much fun."

"I'll agree with that," sighed Lexx, massaging her temples. "Where are we now?"

"That's the million dollar question," Tania quipped, sitting down on the ground. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm bushed. All this running around and fighting really wears a gal out."

"_I'll_ agree with that," Yazumon agreed, plopping down beside her.

"Me too." Cunomon gave a huge yawn, displaying all his teeth, and curled up by Lexx's feet.

Lina was taking an inventory. "I have my D3," she announced in a moment. "But my D-Terminal is still gone, and I don't have the Digi-Egg of Kindness."

Lexx fished into the pocket of her jean shorts and withdrew Beediexmon's crude D3 construct. "I've got mine too."

Tania held up her own and made a similar comment.

The black-haired Dragon-Destined looked around. They were on a flat grassy plain, nothing but a carpet of green as far as the eye could see. Which at least meant there weren't any attacking Digimon in sight. Glad for a chance to breathe, Lexx sat down next to her Digimon, who appeared to be asleep. After a moment, Lina and Diratimon joined them.

There was nothing to break the silence for a while, until Tania inhaled. "I've been thinking," she said quietly. "You know what I think? I think this is like some kind of video game. We're _in_ a video game. Every time we make it to an exit, that's us beating a level and going on to the next one."

"How many levels are there?" Lexx asked, not really expecting anyone to know.

"I dunno," her brunette friend answered anyway. "But I do know something. In most video games, each new level is harder than the last . . . and at the end of the game, there's always a boss."

More silence.

Lina sighed loudly. "I just wanted a break," she complained. "I got all my homework done Friday night. I went to Matt's practice to see if he could come with me. I just wanted to have a nice long Saturday in the digital world with nothing to do but lay around." She sighed again. "And instead I'm fighting for my life in a video game put together by a stupid Digi-Prophesier who looks like a Numemon and doesn't think it matters if we live or die because our stupid prophecy has already been fulfilled!"

"Lina. . . ." Diratimon touched her arm with his wing.

Without warning, Lexx suddenly lunged and wrapped the blonde girl up in a fierce hug. "Hang on, Lina," she whispered. Again, louder. "Hang on. Hang on! We're not finished yet! We'll keep fighting, because we're the Dragon-Destined. Remember Ackmon? Remember Yacutimon? He was ready to destroy the whole Digiworld!" She paused for a breath. "And we were ready to destroy ourselves to save it."

Lina picked up her head, smiling faintly. "Thanks, Lexx."

"Nice speech, Lexx," yawned Yazumon. "But can I point out that we Digimon are too tired to digi-volve, and there's nothing to eat? I think we're reaching the end of our limits here."

Tania grabbed her hat off the top of her Digimon's head and smacked him with it. "Shut up, Yaz. We have to hang on, to teach that Beediexmon a lesson if nothing else." Her eyes flashed with anger. "We'll show him with happens when he messes with the Digimon Dragons!"

A furrow appeared between Lexx's green eyes. "Tania, I've been thinking too," she told her. "And . . . well, yeah, Beediexmon doesn't have the right to do this to us. It's not right, and it's not fair. But . . . I don't think he realizes what he's doing. I mean, I think in his mind he's not doing anything wrong. If we could just explain to him . . . anyway, I understand how angry you guys gotta be, and I am too. But I also understand that we're just people from dreams to him. He doesn't understand us."

The black-haired girl blushed a little as her friends all stared at her.

". . . .I think that's the most compassion-y thing I ever heard," said Tania, grinning.

Cunomon chuckled and sat up. "That's my Lexx. Oooooo. Look!" A lavender light was shining down on the group of six, and they turned their faces upward.

Hovering in the air was a small round sphere, about the size of a fist. It was a blue-green color, just like the Digi-Egg of Kindness, but this one had a ring of lavender metal around its middle. Three lavender spikes studded the top of it, which they could see as it floated down and settled into Lexx's outstretched hand.

"It's the Digi-Egg of Compassion," she marveled. She wasn't sure how she knew; she just felt it.

"Well, that would explain the Crest of Compassion on the front." Tania winked.

Lexx stuck her tongue out at her.

"Uh . . . guys? You feel something?" Cunomon asked, staring at the ground. Lexx frowned and put her hand on the grass. Sure enough, a faint and steady thump could be detected. As the Dragon-Destined and their Digimon shared puzzled looks, the thumps went from faint to strong to actually shaking the ground, and they scrambled to their feet as a tall figure appeared on the horizon.

It was joined by two other figures. They were big. They were tall. As they got closer more features could be seen, but those two facts were enough for the girls. No prompting from Lexx was necessary. Lina and Tania cupped their hands around the Digi-Egg of Compassion. Their other hands went to their D3's.

"Digi-armor Energize!"

The Egg burst into brilliant light, as did the Digimon. They still had some reserves left, and this was the time to use them!

"Cunomon armor digi-volve to. . . !"

"Yazumon armor digi-volve to. . . !"

"Diratimon armor digi-volve to. . . !"

Where Cunomon once sat there was now a Digimon with blue-green skin. He bent forward at the waist, his tail stretching out behind him, in a shape that reminded Lexx of the raptors from Jurassic Park, though the Armor Digimon was larger. Lavender chest armor with silver trim circled his chest, along with arm guards. Both had diamond markings. A mask and leg guards completed his metal coverings, and on the back of his head were five lavender spikes. A row of yellow spines traveled down his back, and the Crest of Compassion gleamed in bright blue on his back.

"Koshimon!" roared the Digimon. "The Strength of Compassion!"

Beside Koshimon was a feathered Digimon, powder blue in color. Looking like a cross between a dragon and a bird, his breast armor was an inverse of Koshimon's, silver with lavender diamonds, and the Crest on Compassion shone on his chest. Aqua colored feathers ran down his neck and stomach, matching the aqua spikes running down his back. Five lavender feathers were positioned on the back of his head.

"Asakazemon: Compassion's Sunrise!" screeched the bird/dragon Digimon.

On Koshimon's other side was an Armor Digimon that looked surprisingly like Cunomon. Although he stood on two legs, his skin was sky blue, and yellow spikes ran down his back. Armor covered his face, shoulders, and the top of his tail.

"Drashimon: The Blades of Compassion!"

By now the three incoming Digimon were close enough to make out clearly. The good news was there were only three of them. The bad news was they were very large. At least nine feet tall. And not particularly attractive looking. They were roughly humanoid, with yellowish-orange skin, standing on two clawed feet. An ugly, bulbous head, topped with a blue mohawk and a jaw filled with mismatched fangs, rested on broad shoulders with no neck. One round red eye rolled in the middle of their faces. Perhaps the most discomforting things about them were their four arms. Two were normal, but the third ended in a long, sickle-shaped blade, and the fourth ended in the barrel of a cannon.

They stopped several yards away, and the one in the lead raised a normal fist in the air. "Satoodmon come to fight Digimon Dragons!" it bellowed in a guttural voice. "Fight now!" The other two nodded their heads.

"What, no party first?" sneered Koshimon, snapping his tail like a whip.

Expressions of fury transformed the faces of the Satoodmon into even uglier visages as they realized they were being mocked. Together their cannon arms raised. "Satood Blast!" Three bullets of bright yellow energy exploded toward the trio of Armor Digimon . . . and the girls.

"Alley omph!" Drashimon grabbed Tania and dove to the side, as Koshimon scooped up Lexx and rolled in the other direction. Lina grabbed Asakazemon's tail feathers as he flapped into the air. Despite the swift reflexes of the Armor Digimon, it was close. But the missiles sailed harmlessly away.

Koshimon uncoiled, then did a double take as a flash of metal passed inches from his snout. Lexx shrieked at the sudden movement of her Digimon twisting his body, narrowly avoiding a skewering by one of the Satoodmon. Those things were _fast!_

The dragon Digimon danced backward, keeping just out of the way of his enemy's slashing blade. In his arms his Digi-Destined whimpered, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, and it tugged on Koshimon's heart to think of her frightened for her life. But he didn't have time to put her down, and he needed his arms free to attack!

Drashimon was taking another dive as one of the other Satoodmon zeroed in on him. The Digimon Dragon rolled onto his back to protect Tania from being squished under his bulk, and the girl blanched as she actually felt the intense heat of another Satood Blast pass above them. This was a little too close to the action for her liking!

Suddenly her world turned upside down as her Digimon rolled forward, curling to shield her with his body. It wasn't until the world straightened itself out again that Tania realized Drashimon had rolled right between the Satoodmon's legs and leaped high into the air.

"Star Blaze!" yelled her partner, and she saw the sky around them light up with bright stars of fire. The flaming stars fell like rain, but the Satoodmon somehow managed to dodge them all, and they disappeared as they hit the ground.

"Hmm . . . that didn't work," muttered Drashimon. He regarded his recovering opponent from a superior height for a moment (Tania didn't know how he was floating without wings, but she wasn't about to complain), but then a loud roar of pain drew both of their attentions.

Koshimon staggered under the heavy blow his Satoodmon had managed to inflict. There had been enough warning to turn to the side and take the hit on his armor, but his body still ached with pain. He could feel the energy draining from him, the need to devolve. He wouldn't be able to remain in his Armor form much longer.

"Star Blaze!"

The Armor Digimon ducked a swing of his attacker's scythe, then straightened in surprise as several fiery stars knocked the Satoodmon off its feet. It wasn't enough to destroy it, but it was enough to give Koshimon time to recover. He sent Drashimon a grateful look, feeling more energized already.

Meanwhile, Asakazemon was able to keep pretty much out of his Satoodmon's range, although a few blasts had singed some feathers. Lina had climbed up his tail and now clung to the back of his chest armor. They weren't in as much danger as the other two, but their opponent kept them from offering help. Heart in throat, the blonde girl could only watch her two friends and their Digimon battling for their lives. She left her own protection in the hands—er, claws—of Asakazemon, having complete trust in him, as her mind struggled to find some way to get around their attacker.

Asakazemon's muscles tightened under her, and that was the only warning she had as he suddenly dipped and slid sideways in the air. Lina's fingers caught in a seam of the metal armor she clung to, keeping her in her position as their Satoodmon sailed by. Blue-green eyes widened on a pale face. Those things could jump too!

The Satoodmon landed, thick legs bent, and Lina's breath caught as a baleful red eye glared up at her from _the back of the creature's head_. It turned and raised all four arms into the air. "Coward Digimon!" it bellowed. "Come fight Satoodmon!"

Asakazemon snorted and narrowed his lime green eyes behind his facemask. "I'm sick of this," announced the Armor Digimon. "Dawn Rays!"

The whole battlefield darkened, and Lina glanced up in confusion. Thick gray clouds rolled across the sky, covering the sun. Then shafts of light broke through, striking the trio of Satoodmon like searchlights. Howling in pain, they covered the eyes on both sides of their heads with their normal hands. Their blades slashed randomly in the air; occasionally they fired a shot from their cannon.

Koshimon breathed easier as his enemy was blinded. Finally finding time to set his Digi-Destined down, he leaped away and gently placed Lexx on the ground. Dazed, she continued to watch the Satoodmon thrashing around wildly behind them. Koshimon turned to it.

"Dragon Ball!" Between his claws appeared a glittering ball of sky blue energy. Koshimon hurled it like a huge baseball, and it struck the flailing Satoodmon head on. With a roar it fell it its knees. "Dragon Ball!" Another hit. And another. The ugly Digimon finally disintegrated into the air. The moment the last pixel vanished Koshimon reverted back to his Rookie form. Cunomon turned, tried to say something to Lexx, but collapsed into unconsciousness instead.

"Star Blaze!" A multitude of fiery stars impacted on the second Satoodmon, deleting it as well.

"Eastern Sun!" The Crest of Compassion on the chest of the flying bird/dragon began to glow sky blue, and a beam shot forth to his opponent. After several hits the last Satoodmon vanished.

Drashimon slowly settled to the ground as his Satoodmon was defeated. The moment his clawed feet touched the earth he devolved into Yazumon, dumping Tania ungracefully to the ground. Like Cunomon, he was snoring in seconds.

Asakazemon's landing was a little more elegant. Lina jumped down as the Armor Digimon began to glow, and deftly caught a tired Diratimon as he fluttered into her arms. Lexx and Tania joined the two, both of them carrying their slumbering Digimon as well.

"That . . . was _not_ fun," Tania muttered. "If I'm ever that close to a Digimon battle again, somebody shoot me." Lexx shuddered in agreement.

"I'm sorry we couldn't help sooner," Lina said, her eyes troubled.

Tanai shrugged. "Nothing you could do. Now where's that stupid exit sign?" The brown-haired girl glanced around, and all three of them jumped as it sprang into existence before them, as if on command.

"Okay, I'm just going to stop saying stuff altogether," Tania scowled, eyeing the door warily. "Every time I do something happens." With a resigned sigh she reached out for the handle.

"Wait, Tania." Lina grabbed her hand. "We don't have the strength to fight anything new. Our Digimon are down for the count." She gestured to Diratimon, who had joined the other two Digimon Dragons in sleep. "Why don't we just stay here for a while and rest?" suggested the blonde.

Tania frowned. "Can we do that?"

"Sure. We'll just pause the video game," Lexx said, giving a tired chuckle. "I don't see anything to eat, but we can get some sleep, since we already defeated the guys on this level . . . as long as no more come, that is." She set the snoring Cunomon on the ground. Tania and Lina followed suit, producing an adorable pile of sleeping Digimon. Their Digi-Destined wore fatigued smiles watching them.

"We're lucky kids," Lina said, taking a seat in the short grass with her legs stretched out. Tania collapsed on her back next to her, and folded her arms behind her head. Her brown eyes wandered upward to stare at the unbroken blue sky.

"Yeah," Lexx agreed, sitting down as well. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Her eyelids fluttered. "I don't know how much more of this we can take," she sighed softly. "We almost—I mean, if something had happened, if Koshimon or Drashimon had tripped or made one wrong move. . . ." She shuddered. "This is real. This _isn't_ some video game, and there's no extra lives or continues if we lose."

Tania yawned. "Man, could you be more down, Lexxy? Lighten up. We've survived this far, haven't we? After their nap the Digimon will be up and ready for action." She punched a fist into the air emphatically.

"Not without food," Lina pointed out.

Tania's fist fell. "Oh . . . yeah."

"Hmm. Yes, you would seem to be in a predicament, wouldn't you?" All three girls recognized the soft, smooth voice and leaped to their feet, exhaustion banished in a surge of adrenaline. In front of the exit door a hologram sprang into being. The green and purple figure wasn't a surprise to any of them.

The Dragon-Destined stood in front of their defenseless Digimon, ready for anything. "What do _you_ want?" Tania snarled.

Beediexmon did not look perturbed. "Merely to congratulate you on your accomplishments thus far," the great Digimon stated. "Your minds are even more resourceful than I imagined. How proud I was to watch your victories."

Lexx felt sick, although she could have guessed he had been observing them, had she thought about it. But all this time they had been fighting for their lives, and the Digi-Prophesier had been watching them for his own amusement. It made her feel so helpless to know there was no way they could protest to this. If they stopped, they would be destroyed. Or starve to death, eventually. The only way to get through this was to fight their way through, and that was exactly what Beediexmon wanted.

"We can't go on!" Lina pleaded desperately. "The Digimon are past exhaustion, and we're not much better. They've been battling nonstop without anything to eat. We have to rest!"

"Hmm." The Digimon's half-lidded eyes swept over the three girls, then the sleeping Digimon. "Perhaps you are right. Very well. I have waited for hundreds of years; I can wait a while yet." The hologram revolved in place and stretched out one many-jointed arm, strange fingers spread. Before him the glowing exit sign, which previously had always been green, changed to a warm yellow. Beediexmon turned back, staring at them from under his purple eyelids. "But do not take too long, Dragon-Destined. I am anxious for this to reach its conclusion." And with that he inclined his head in a sort of bow and faded away.

"I'd like to help him reach _his_ conclusion!" snapped Tania, hands balled into fists.

Lexx just sighed. "Come on. This must be almost over." _I hope, anyway._ She went to collect her Digimon, then headed for the door.

"Yeah, if we survive that long," the brunette grumbled, picking up Yazumon and following. Lina came last, and Lexx reached out and touched the doorknob.

* * *

"Is it just me, or do we never actually go through those doors?"

Neither girl answered the blonde. They were staring around in wonder. The six found themselves in a large—but not huge—room. A long rectangular table filled the center of the chamber, and steaming dishes and plates of food covered its surface. Along the back wall were three big, four-poster bed with decorative canopies.

Cunomon stirred, nostrils quivering. "Wha's fer dinner, Mom?" he mumbled as his eyelids fluttered open. An instant later he was wide awake. "Whoa, food! Put me down, Lexx!" He squirmed, and she giggled and set him on the floor.

The sky blue dragon scrambled into one of the six chairs around the table and dug in with gusto. Lexx, coming over to sit beside him, didn't even get a chance to identify what he was eating before it was in his mouth and gone.

Tania and Lina, waking their Digimon, also took seats. Diratimon perched on his chair, while Yaz sat like the humans (though his clawed feet didn't reach the floor). Without speaking the two famished dragons joined Cunomon in stuffing their faces.

The girls weren't nearly as hungry as their Digimon, but they helped themselves to a large plate of various sandwiches—with the crusts cut off, no less. "What time is it, anyway?" Lexx asked around a mouthful of tuna.

Lina glanced at her wristwatch. "Mine says it's a little past seven," she reported.

"And it was about three when I got yanked to Digiworld, which probably makes it about five when we got grabbed by Beediexmon," Tania offered.

"We've only been in here for two hours?" Lexx cried in disbelief. "It's felt like ages!" She sighed. "Oh well. Except . . . our parents are getting worried I'll bet."

"My mom must be freaking," agreed Tania.

"That's only if Beediexmon's universe and this place don't mess around time-wise. For all we know this is only taking a few minutes!" Lina took a bite and made a face. "Yuck. Liverwurst."

"For all _we_ know, time's going backward!" retorted Tania. She looked disgusted. "I hate this! We don't know anything!"

"Well, we know a little about Beediexmon," the Digi-Destined of Compassion pointed out. "We know he's the Digi-Prophesier. We know he has his own universe, and we know he created this place. He creates fake Digimon and digi-vices and Digi-Eggs—"

"Yeah, but do we _know_ that?" Lina's face was troubled. "I mean, we only have his word—"

"We were _in_ his universe. We're _here_ now."

"We only have his _word_ this is all his. Maybe he's just borrowing. . . ." Realizing she was arguing like a five-year-old, Lina bit her lip and blushed. "Sorry. I'm just worried. It's making me paranoid."

"Me too. Sorry." Lexx gazed down at the sandwich in her hand.

"Know what I noticed?" Tania said into the silence. She was staring at her D3 thoughtfully. "Beediexmon sent those two fake digi-vices to get me and Lexx, right? And he made these two D3's so Yaz and Cuno could armor digi-volve. But did you notice that these _look _fake? They're so . . . crude."

"So?" asked the other two.

"Well, the Digi-Egg of Compassion didn't look crude or fake."

Lexx's eyes widened. "You're right! Do you think the Digi-Eggs are real?"

Lina gave a small yelp. "Do you think the Digimon we've been deleting are real?"

"No, no, Lina!" Diratimon spoke up, proving the Digimon Dragons had been paying attention to the conversation, if not actively participating. "Those Florgenmon were definitely fake. There's no way the Digi-Prophesier could have just found that many. There were millions!" He flipped a buttered roll into his mouth.

"And those Houndmon weren't regular Houndmon," Cuno added, licking gravy from his fangs. "They were different."

A smile crossed Lina's face. "That's a relief."

The meal didn't last too long after that. Despite their nap, the Digimon were still tired. After stuffing themselves, they weren't good for conversation. They just wanted to sleep. And the girls weren't against that either. Together the six retired to the back of the room, leaving the dirty dishes on the table.

"There's that humor again," Tania commented dryly. The blankets and draperies of each of the beds were color-coordinated. Two were blue-green, and the third sky blue.

"At this point, I wouldn't care if they were pink with purple polka dots and _alive_," Yazumon returned, jumping up on the end of one blue-green bed and stretching. He rolled onto his back and closed his red eyes as Tania pulled herself up beside him. But she propped herself up on the pillows and crossed her arms, not looking like one who was about to go to bed.

"I still don't trust him," she muttered. "I'm gonna stand watch."

Cuno and Lexx settled themselves in the sky blue bed, the dragon curling up at the girl's feet like a big cat. "Good idea, Tania. Wake me up in a few hours." Lexx allowed her eyes to close, snuggling into the blankets and wondering if she would be able to fall sleep knowing the situation they were in. But the day's events proved too taxing, and she was drifting off even as she heard Lina and Diratimon climbing into the bed on her left.

* * *

The black-haired girl was jolted from sleep as a familiar snout nudged her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she found gleaming yellow ones inches from her own. Cuno's expression was unusually serious. "Up, Lexx. We gotta go."

"Mmmrmph?" She sat up groggily and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Whatimezit?"

"Eight," reported Lina, who was stretching and running a hand through her long hair to put it to order. Diratimon stood on the edge of the bed and flapped his wings a little. On her other side, Tania was shaking Yazumon awake. His hat has fallen over his face, and he shoved it back into place with a snort as he sat up, yawning.

Looking around, Lexx soon saw why they were all waking up. The dining table had vanished, to be replaced by the usual door and exit sign, both smaller to fit in the room. The sign was not only green again, but flashing urgently, and neon arrows on both sides of it pointed down at the door and were also flashing on and off. Somebody obviously thought it was time for them to get moving.

"I'm tired of asking 'how high?' every time he tells us to jump!" Cunomon declared, stamping his foot. Unfortunately, that foot slipped and he tumbled off the bed, landing on the floor in a heap.

Yaz and Dirati burst out laughing, which almost drowned out the growling noise coming from the floor. Lexx peered over the edge of the bed and giggled down at her Digimon. "Comfortable, Cuno?" she grinned.

"Shut up." The dragon got to his feet and shook his head to clear it.

Chuckling quietly behind her hand, Lina strove to be serious. "Do we have to go?" she asked earnestly. "I know we probably won't get another meal, but I wouldn't mind another few hours of sleep."

Before anyone could respond, the door under the exit sign swung upon, revealing a dark tunnel within. As the six of them stared in surprise a strong wind whipped into the room, stirring the covers and curtains of the beds and blowing the girls' hair about their faces. It continued to increase in strength, becoming more fierce and biting. In moments it was so strong it was actually pulling them toward the door, and it was all they could do to cling to the bedposts for dear life. But even this couldn't last for long, and one by one they were wrenched lose and drawn into the darkness calling to them.

* * *

The attack came quickly this time. They had just sorted themselves out (after landing in a tumbled heap on a rather hard surface) and found themselves in what seemed to be a quiet, empty city, when a bone-shaking roar caused all of them to jump.

RRRAAAOOOWWWW!

Thump thump, thump thump. Thump thump, thump thump. Something was approaching. And it sounded big.

It rounded the corner of the skyscraper in front of them on their left and stepped out into the street, slowing to a stop.

"Uh oh." Cunomon's voice was small.

"Uh oh?" Lexx repeated bleakly.

"Ultimate," announced Diratimon softly, not moving so much as a wingtip. "She's Tigarismon."

The Digimon staring them down was larger than Garurumon, though similarly shaped. A pale orange-furred tiger with violet stripes, she had long fangs reaching almost to her chin and a golden collar around her neck, etched with runes. Like the Houndmon, her eyes were milky white without pupils. Even without her eerie eyes, she didn't look happy. She looked like she was out for blood.

Tigarismon growled low and sank back on her haunches, front claws extended. The Digi-Destined tensed and prepared to flee. She was going to leap!

What happened next took everyone by surprise, including the enemy Digimon. A flash of lime green light in the sky overhead became a shooting star, hurtling toward them. As it dove down between the tall city buildings, heading straight for the trio of Dragon-Destined and their Digimon, a streak of black lightning cut across the air and struck it, sending it careening off course and into the side of a building. The black bolt then ricocheted off the pavement and struck Tigarismon. She was instantly deleted. The black lightning disappeared along with her.

Tania gasped and pointed at the building the shooting star had collided with. A sputtering green glow jerked out of the hole in the concrete and floated toward them, small tremors sending it first listing to one side, then the over.

"It's the Digi-Egg of Justice!" the brown-eyed girl cried, lunging forward when it neared and wrapping her hands around it. Tania turned back to Lexx and Lina, revealing to them a small round Digi-Egg with clawed feet on the bottom and red wings with yellow spots on either side. A ring of red circled it across its middle, with the Crest of Justice etched in lime green. Above the ring the Digi-Egg was that same lime green color, and below it was sky blue. As the girls stared at it, Tania's captivated expression turned to one of concern.

"Something's wrong," she muttered. The Digi-Egg still trembled, making her hands shake, and sometimes it jerked forward as if wanting to break free. "There's something . . . oh!" With a twisting wrench the Digi-Egg of Justice pulled loose and wobbled through the air toward the three Digimon Dragons.

"That's weird. I've never seen a Digi-Egg act like that," Lina commented, watching as it circled around the dragon Digimon, who were just as confused as their partners. "Maybe it's . . . broken."

"All the more reason not to use it," Lexx pointed out. "And with the challenger on this level already taken out by . . . well, whatever that was, there really isn't much of a point anyway."

"I don't think it's giving us much choice, Lexx!" yelped Cunomon, ducking as the Digi-Egg of Justice shot forward into the middle of the three of them. Bright light suddenly shone from the small device, bathing all three Digimon.

"It's opening!" Lina exclaimed in shock. "But we didn't say the activation—"

"Yazumon armor digi-volve to. . . !"

"Diratimon armor digi-volve to. . . !"

"Cunomon armor digi-volve to. . . !"

". . . .code," the blonde finished dumbly, wide-eyed.

Before them stood a tall, gray-scaled dragon standing on two legs. Deep red wings stretched behind him, dotted with yellow. Red armor with lime green spikes covered his body.

"Ragnamon: The Scales of Justice!"

Beside Ragnamon was another red-winged dragon, on four feet this time. Violet in color, he wore a red and yellow facemask over his lime green eyes, and red and yellow leg guards. All had little lightning bolt shapes on them.

"Thundramon: The Roar of Justice!"

Strangely, there were only two Digimon standing on the street with the Dragon-Destined.

Lexx looked at the two Armor Digimon and bit her lip. "Where's Cuno?" she demanded in a faint voice, not recognizing either of the two as her partner. Dread curled in her gut, though she couldn't say why. This whole situation struck her as wrong, and it just took a major turn for the worse.

The girl's answer was prompt and loud. A guttural roar/snarl, not unlike Tigarismon's, drew everyone's attention to what looked like a bank across the street. Perched on the top of the flat roof was an imposing form.

The Digimon was just plain scary looking. Almost wolf-like, the creature was blue-furred and four-footed. Four razor-sharp spines rose from his back, poking through the metal armor that covered his head and body. Blazing yellow eyes without pupils gazed down at them all, and an evil grin covered his fanged snout.

"Warmongermon: The Abomination of Justice!" howled the creature, springing off the roof with claws extended.

Thundramon leapt into the air as Warmongermon just about landed in the space he had been moments before, but Ragnamon stood his ground, not wanting to leave the girls alone with the beast.

Tania and Lina both noticed at the same time that Lexx was visibly shaking, confirming what they pretty much already knew. As the girl held out a trembling hand and took a step forward, they both grabbed her arms and dragged her backward.

"Cuno. . . ." she whispered.

"Ain't Cuno right now!" hissed Tania, wincing as Warmongermon leapt at them and Ragnamon jumped between them and wrestled the Digimon back a few steps.

The black-haired girl watched the Armor Digimon fighting, her face twisted in misery, thin rivers of tears wetting her cheeks. "Why?" she gasped.

The trio of Dragon-Destined shrieked and dove to the side as the struggling wolf/dragon managed to get an attack around Ragnamon. "Hot Shot!" A ball of flame just missed them. Instead it hit a mailbox, the blue metal melting and warping.

"Bolt Blast!" Thundramon swooped down from the sky, and lightning bolts shot from his leg guards, narrowly missing Ragnamon and causing Warmongermon to screech in pain. Taking advantage of the distraction, the gray-scaled dragon leapt into the air.

"My turn!" Thundramon backed away in a thunderclap of wings as Ragnamon began circling their opponent. Faster and faster he flew, while Warmongermon tried swiping at him with his sharp claws. But he was much too slow, and Ragnamon became a raging whirlwind around him. The Digimon soared up to the top of his tornado and called down lightning into the funnel of wind. There was no escape.

"CUNO!" Lexx screamed, as a howl of anguish shattered the air. She struggled madly, and her two friends together could barely hold her. As the wind died away Thundramon and Ragnamon settled to the ground on either side of still, sky blue figure and devolved. There was no triumph on their faces.

"Cunomon," sobbed Lexx, breaking free at last and scrambling to her feet. She bolted across the pavement, scooping her battered Digimon into her arms. Her tears splattered on the upturned, still face. She didn't notice her friends and their Digimon gathering around. Her eyes were only for Cunomon.

The breath caught in the girl's throat as yellow eyes slowly opened. She held that breath, afraid to speak. Cunomon's dazed gaze slid first to his Digi-Destined's weeping face, then the others. "Ugh." He coughed. "Lexx, my head hurts." His voice was a croak.

"C-Cuno!" She hugged him fiercely, crying in relief this time, as he weakly struggled and then gave it up. For some reason, it wasn't so bad being smothered right now, though he couldn't quite remember why. It was rather comfortingly, really.

The huddled group flinched collectively as they all caught the hint of movement in their peripheral vision, but it was only the exit sign springing to life above the door of the bank across the street. Lexx stiffened in anger. How _dare_ they do this to Cuno! (Whoever "they" were, anyway.) Without a word she stomped across the road and grabbed the metal bar that opened the door.

* * *

"Was . . . was that the end? Is it over?" Lina looked around. They were back in Beediexmon's universe. Or at least, _a_ universe. It looked like Beediexmon's, anyway.

"Hee hee hee! Don't you _wish_!" a nasty voice snarled. Something moved in front of them. Lexx gasped.

"Talk about natural camouflage," muttered Tania. The three virus copies of the Digimon Dragons floated right in front of them, unnoticed because of their dark coloring against the background of the mostly black universe. Now that they had been spotted, however, the girls and their Digimon didn't have too much trouble picking them out from the starry blackness of space.

"You again!" shouted Yazumon. "Don't you guys ever get sick of getting your tails kicked?"

"Keep talking," sneered his four-footed duplicate. "I can't wait to wipe that smirk off your snout."

"Awww, poor baby a little tired?" the black Cunomon taunted his mirror image. "That virus should have hit the Egg harder. It was supposed to infect all of you. Your humans would have been destroyed by their own Digimon." A fang-filled grin flashed whitely against the doppelganger's black skin.

Lexx's green eyes snapped wide. She saw the black lightning bolt in her mind. "That was you!" she cried accusingly.

"You messed with my Digi-Egg!" Tania scowled, murder in her eye. The three virus copies just sniggered.

"Whatcha gonna do, human?" laughed the gray Diratimon.

"I know what they're going to do." The black Yazumon's voice suddenly turned serious, but a sneer still covered his face. "They're going to die."

The evil Cunomon beamed. "And then the Digiworld is ours."

"Revenge!" hissed the virus Diratimon. "Four years isn't so long a wait, and it certainly gives you time to learn some new tricks!"

The three dark Rookies began drifting closer together, and in their hearts the Dragon-Destined and the Digimon Dragons knew what was about to happen.

Tania swallowed. "At the end of the game there's always a boss. . . ." she whispered, jaw clenched.

"Lexx." Cunomon's voice was a low growl. "Put me down."

"Cunomon digi-volve to. . . !"

"Cunomon digi-volve to. . . !"

"Yazumon digi-volve to. . . !"

"Yazumon digi-volve to. . . !"

"Diratimon digi-volve to. . . !"

"Diratimon digi-volve to. . . !"

Lexx, Tania and Lina somehow found themselves crouched in tall grass behind a vertical wall, listening to the wind blow as fierce as if they were in the middle of a hurricane. It took a minute, as the stars and planets flashed by at terrific speed, for them to realize that the grass they knelt in was actually silver hair, and the wall in front of them actually a tall blue ear. They were riding the great Digimon Dragon, Yacutimon, as he sped through the cosmos!

Ahead they could see the tail and waving black streamers of the evil Yacutimon, and caught a flash of pale white eyes as his three heads turned back to grin maliciously at them.

Six beams of yellow light blasted at the virus counterpart, but he twisted like a snake and avoided most of them. With a great bellowing roar, the virus let loose his own eye weapons, shooting in all directions.

"What's he doing!?" Lina screamed, but the other two could barely hear her over the roaring of the air as the true Yacutimon turned and looped to evade the beams of white energy coming in their direction. Other beams seemed to be shooting randomly out into the universe. It was difficult to keep the virus in sight with all the spiraling and curling their Yacutimon was doing.

But then a deep, satisfied rumble filled their ears. "Here," a bone-shaking, multiple voice resounded. "Here is the weakness." All six beams of harsh white light turned to one point in space, between two planets with green rings.

"NO!" thundered the real Yacutimon, surging forward and causing the three girls to grab fistfuls of his silver mane to hold on. A sphere of red soared ahead of them, lighting up the dark universe, and the evil one growled in annoyance as it struck and flames burst on his shoulder. But his adversary was too far away, and could not move quite fast enough. Despite the dark blue Digimon's ferocious speed, his black twin was able to escape as the concentrated beams of energy punched a hole in the universe and he slithered through.

Yacutimon was right on his tail.

The girls had to squint as the darkness of the starry cosmos was replaced with bright, cheerful sunlight. Above stretched a wide blue sky, and below an endless ocean of flowing green hills and forests. Little colorful dots marked settlements of one kind or another.

"Look!" Lina pointed. A large yellow creature with a back covered in spines was sunning itself by a little river cutting through the woods. "It's a Tortomon! This is Digiworld!" the blonde declared.

"We have to stop that Yacutimon!" Lexx shouted. "He'll destroy this place out of sheer spite—whoa!" The other two shrieked with her as their great steed pulled up short, almost throwing them from their perch.

The reason was obvious, as the virus had turned to face them and now hovered before them, fangs gleaming on all three heads. "One more obstacle to get through before I take what is mine!" he roared triumphantly, as if he had already won.

The true Yacutimon said nothing, merely waiting.

"Just like last time," whispered Tania, glancing around the edge of the ear they were crouched behind and looking down. The ground was very, very far away. She gulped.

"Yeah, I remember what happened last time too," muttered Lexx fretfully. Last time the battle had almost killed both Digimon Dragons. Only the power of the Crests had saved their Digimon then.

Their black opponent snarled when he got no response. A yellow globe of energy filled his front claws and he fired, but the real Digimon only dodged it. When their enemy flowed forward, claws extended, the Dragon-Destined tightened their grip, preparing for a battle. But instead the real Yacutimon flew backward, keeping out of reach. The girls looked at each other, confused, but they all seemed to realize the answer at the same time.

Yacutimon didn't want to chance fighting for fear of them getting hurt.

Lexx grabbed the edge of Yacutimon's ear and leaned over, shouting down into the great black cavern. "Yacutimon! You have to fight! If you don't that copy will take over the entire Digiworld! He's powerful enough to do it!"

Tania joined her. "Don't worry about us!" the brunette yelled. "We'll be all right! Go for it!"

Still Yacutimon hesitated, until Lina added, "Do it, Yacutimon! Please! Don't let the Digiworld down!"

With a challenging roar the great twilight-colored dragon leapt forward toward his foe. His fangs were bared and his claws were ready. His streamers flapped in the bright blue sky. The three humans hiding behind one organ of hearing ducked down even further. Their fingers were beginning to cramp from holding on so long, but they dared not let go or shift their grip. Before them the black virus was coming to clash head on, sneering in contempt. The two monsters approached each other, talons extended and ready to rip and tear, and just as they were to impact—

_"THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!"_

The powerful voice drew both huge Digimon up short. And floating between them, wearing an annoyed expression, was a familiar green and purple Digimon.

"Ah, welcome Digi-Prophesier," rumbled the black Yacutimon mockingly.

The girls peeked around the blue Yacutimon's ear, catching sight of Beediexmon. He looked tiny and insignificant, hovering between the two mirrored titans. This was the most emotion they had ever seen from him, and for once his eyes were wide open.

"I am _vastly_ disappointed in you," the Digi-Prophesier informed the virus primly, like a father chastising a disobedient child. "I asked you to test them, and to speak to them if you wished. I did _not_ tell you to come to the digital world. And I did _not_ tell you to digi-volve together."

The black one growled, then opened his jaws and roared. The girls clapped their hands over their ears in pain. "Quiet, weakling! Show respect when you speak to Yacutimon, or you will be sorry for disrupting our battle!"

The tiny, odd-looking Digimon rolled his eyes. "To respond to that would be beneath my dignity. Devolve, creature of prophecy."

"No!" he snarled. "This is my world now! Even you are not powerful enough to stop me!"

Beediexmon was quickly going from annoyed to actually angry. "Now listen to me—"

"NO!" howled the copy once again. Blinding white energy formed between his front claws, expanding into a larger and larger sphere, until it was so bright the girls were forced to look away.

"Not again!" Lexx screamed in horror. What was called last time the "final showdown" was happening again. History repeating itself. The true Yacutimon roared as his doppelganger reared back to throw the orb at his two enemies.

_"STOP!"_

And the white light exploded.

* * *

Lexx stared at the lush green grass under her fingers, eyes wide in disbelief. There was silence all around, but she could feel a cool breeze on her face, and the sun beating down on the back of her vest. She was kneeling in the soft green grass of . . . somewhere.

Then, "Hey, you all right?"

Her head snapped up. "Cuno!" she gasped. The little sky blue Rookie smiled a tired smile and sat down in front of her.

"Wow, what a trip," muttered Tania, off to Lexx's right. She was sprawled on her back, and Yazumon was waving his hat in her face. She pushed his arm aside with a mock growl.

"Ow. . . . That's one way of putting it. Lina, could you get off me?"

"Sorry, Dirati." The blonde girl scrambled to her feet, then pulled her somewhat squashed Digimon up with her. The others also got up.

"Hey, I know where this is!" announced Yazumon, looking around as he plopped his cap back on his furry head. "We're not too far from a tree where I like to hang out."

Tania gave him a look. "A tree?"

"It's a nice tree," Yazumon defended himself huffily.

"Is anyone else wondering about what happened back there?" Lexx scratched her head. They were standing in a silent clearing of tall grasses. Not a bird or insect chirped, and no little Digimon were out foraging for lunch. Or whatever. Lexx wondered if it was still late at night in the real world. As far as she knew, the real world and the digital one were still synced. So was this the next day?

A soft cough caught everyone's attention, seemingly loud in the stillness. "I can answer that question, Dragon-Destined," a little voice called out.

They all turned, searching. "There!" Diratimon pointed with a wing.

Sitting on the lowest branch of a tree on the edge of the clearing was a little Digimon, about the size of the three Digimon Dragons. It looked more like a puppy than anything else. It was four-footed with big, oversized paws, and perky ears that stood upright but flopped over. A tail that ended with one round, purple orb wagged back and forth slowly behind it. Its light green coloring was broken only by pinkish-purple spots, and bright blue eyes. Its tongue hung out from one side of its snout.

It was the coloring that first clued in Lina. "Beediexmon, is that you?" she asked, surprised.

The little creature sighed. "Was. I used up so much energy stopping Yacutimon, I devolved back to my Rookie level. I'm Veetermon now."

"Ha!" laughed Tania. "Serves you right!"

"Tania," admonished Lina, "he saved our lives."

"Our lives wouldn't have been in danger if it weren't for him! If you ask me, he got exactly what he deserved."

"Either way, what's done is done." Lexx would have been more compassionate, but she was sick and tired of this whole adventure and just wanted to go home, even though that meant leaving the Digiworld behind again. Fighting for your life for hours on end can do that to a person. But before she left, she wanted to be sure the danger was all over. "What will happen to Digiworld without its Digi-Prophesier?"

The little Digimon looked forlorn. "It's doomed, I'm sure."

Diratimon snorted. "I think we can survive without knowing everything before it happens."

"If the real world can do it, so can Digiworld," nodded Cunomon.

Veetermon didn't comment, but gazed down at them in faint contempt, annoyed with their lack of respect.

"Okay, but what happened to the viruses?" Tania wanted to know

"I forced them to devolve and sent them many miles in different directions." Veetermon was now lounging on the tree branch, making no move to come down. He tried to look as stately and grand as Beediexmon once had, but ended up looking cute more than anything else.

"Well, at least they can't become Yacutimon anymore." Lina yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"What about when they get back together?" Lexx asked. "It's gotta happen sometime. Even if it takes them years, eventually they'll find each other."

"That doesn't matter," Veetermon said smoothly, as if it should have been obvious.

"Of course it matters!" Tania shot back. "If they get back together, they can become Yacutimon and try to take over again! And if we're not here, who'll stop them?"

The once Digi-Prophesier sighed and rolled his eyes, looking adorable and irritated. "That's not how the legend goes. It is said that the Digimon Dragons must be together to digi-volve into Yacutimon. That means _all_ the Digimon Dragons."

"Ooooooohhhhh." The three Digimon and their partners looked relieved.

"That's why they haven't been able to do anything in the past four years," realized Yazumon. "Because we've all been split up."

"And after that we were too busy battling," added Cunomon.

"And I'll bet it wouldn't work after I armor digi-volved," put in Diratimon. "Or they would have digi-volved while I was holding them back."

"Exactly," nodded the once Digi-Prophesier. "And why they were so eager to answer my call for a reunion. Good deductions, Digimon. I will admit, it was perhaps a poor choice to bring you all together as I did."

Diratimon snorted. " 'Perhaps?'" he repeated in disbelief.

Veetermon didn't answer. Instead he turned to the three girls. "I was wrong in my statements to you as well, Dragon-Destined. Your destiny is not over. It is your job to keep the virus Digimon Dragons from ever digi-volving again. And to do this—"

The girls nodded. They had already figured it out. "We have to split up again," Tania sighed, giving voice to their thoughts. "Man, our destiny is to never see each other. What a gyp."

Suddenly Lexx didn't want to go home anymore. She felt a deep connection to her two friends, even though they had never been together for very long. They had gone through adventures together, and to know being with your friends could bring about the destruction of the digital world was a depressing thought. The girls and their Digimon stared at each other sadly.

"Come, come!" Veetermon piped up, getting to his feet. "Time for you to return to your world. I'm sure your parent humans are worried about you. When Yacutimon broke through my dimension into this one time slipped slightly, advancing ahead several hours." His blue eyes drifted skyward. "It's almost noon, I believe."

"And how are we getting home?" Tania muttered, not really caring about the time at the moment.

"You will find you still have the D3's I created for you," the little Digimon informed them.

"And my D-Terminal's back!" Lina exclaimed, pulling it out of her pocket as Lexx and Tania withdrew their D3 constructs. She opened it up to gaze upon the image of her Digi-Egg with relief.

"Without my power to keep them going, they're going to break down very soon. But they should be good enough for one more journey. That is why I brought you to this particular place." Veetermon pointed down at the base of the tree with one paw, and for the first time they noticed a TV set nestled between two thick roots. "Hurry now. The longer you wait, the less chance you have of ever getting home."

Lexx gulped and turned to Tania and Lina. Scrubbing at eyes that threatened to tear, she hugged them both fiercely. "We can always meet up in the real world," she told her friends.

"That's right!" Lina pulled a scrap of paper and a stub of pencil from her pocket. Scribbling down her address and phone number twice, she tore the paper in half and shoved them at the other girls. "Call or write or visit or something!" she smiled, trying not to cry herself. "Go on now. I'll go last, since mine's not going to break apart or anything."

"Right," sighed Lexx. "Come on, Cuno." She and her subdued Digimon stood in front of the television, and the human girl felt her stomach drop as she looked over her shoulder at Tania and Yazumon. Her friend was on her knees, her arms around the furry dragon, and both were crying unabashedly.

"Leomon would want me to stay this time too," Yazumon sobbed. "But I'll never forget you, Tania."

"I'll come back to see you _somehow,_ pal," insisted Tania. And that was the last Lexx heard, because the D3 in her hand was making a faint fizzing sound, and suddenly afraid she wouldn't be able to get back home, she held it up to the TV as Lina had told her was the way to do it. "Digi-port open!" she said.

* * *

Cunomon sighed. "I was getting to like those guys too. Sorta." He picked himself up off the floor and shook his head. "Hey Lexx, we're home!"

"Huh?" She looked around. Her Digimon was right. They were in her own room! Her computer screen was glowing an odd blue-white color. "Hmm. I guess the digi-ports are televisions in Digiworld and computers in ours." She tried a few keys, found the screen was frozen, and rebooted. On one hand, Lexx was very depressed. But on the other, she was home again!

Searching her pockets, she wasn't that surprised to find the D3 missing. "Burned up on reentry," she chuckled. "Oh, but look what I found!" Lexx pulled out the purple yo-yo and tossed it on the bed. Cunomon jumped up to give it a sniff, but saw Lexx leaving the room and jumped down again to follow.

"Mom!?" the black-haired girl called down the hall. "Mom, Dad? Are you home?"

For a moment there was no answer, and the girl felt a pang of disappointment. She had time to wonder for a moment if they were all out searching for her when a familiar wail drifted up the stairs. Toru.

Then pounding feet announced her parents' arrival, and she ran to the stairs to find them both at the bottom staring up at her, her mother holding her little brother. The expressions on their faces caused her to have to beat down her tears for the second time that day. Lexx jumped down the stairs and threw herself into her parents' arms. When Cunomon joined them all a second later, not even Lexx's dad minded for once.

It was good to be home.


End file.
